In spite of facing serious fraud charges for allegedly running a scam that brought in roughly $3 million, Apollo Nida is still out to clear his name when it comes to how he is portrayed in the public eye.

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Nida recently spoke with Radar Online in an article published Thursday, saying, "People want to hear the true side of me. I'm more than just what you see on TV and what's been tossed around in the media."

For the first time, Nida gave his naysayers as well as loyal fans a peek into his tough childhood that included witnessing drug abuse and being tossed from foster home to foster home -- providing insight into what have been factors into his legal woes.

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"A [relative] OD'd on heroin right in front of me. I lived from place to place."

He went on to say that he got involved in criminal activity when he was young. When he was just 26-years-old he was arrested for federal racketeering laws stemming from auto title fraud. He ended up spending five years behind bars.

Still, he wants to motivate young people to not follow his path and mimic his bad choices.

"Don't do as I do, but take my experiences and hope that it will give you a better platform. I have very educating things to say, so that people can embark on something new."

While he stayed quiet about his current legal issues, he did reveal that he still has lots of great things going on for him.

"We have a lot of good stuff to talk about! Everything doesn't have to be negative. Right now, I'm working on a three-part project on a new fitness series with P90x and Insanity. I'm about to launch the pre-natal video for pregnant women. I'm working on a distribution deal. Working on fine dining. It's a lot. We're doing monthly subscriptions to the site. I have a lot of positive things out here to talk about."

The interview comes just weeks before he has to decide between going to trial or taking a plea deal for his federal charges. He has until April 25.

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Apollo nida fraud, Apollo Nida Trial, Apollo Nida Jail Time