Michael Santos grew up in Lake Forest Park, a suburb of North Seattle, Washington with two sisters and had a relatively stable family life. Santos is the son of a Cuban immigrant father and a mother of Spanish descent. His parents were small business owners. While in high school, Santos received probation for receiving stolen property as part of a gambling debt owed to him, which was his only arrest and/or conviction before his conviction for distributing cocaine. Santos graduated from Shorecrest High School in 1982 and was a mediocre student. Santos played football and skied in high school.