In 2013, Jerry was handed a sentence of one-hundred and ten years incarceration. During the sentencing his Judge stated, and it is quoted, “without anybody getting hurt or killed... He just needs to be kept away from other citizens.”
Mired in the struggles that plagued, and still plague today, Baltimore City’s less fortunate, struggles we must all know too well, Jerry committed a number of crimes for which he was convicted: kidnapping, armed robbery, carjacking, and assault. Throughout Jerry’s life were numerous encounters with law enforcement due to his drug-use, which started at age eleven. In 2003, after trying to turn his life around, Jerry lost his football scholarship at Bowie State University due to his drug problem. But prior to his current sentence, Jerry had never been to prison. His crimes were made in a desperation that consumed him, but started from childhood in the Baltimore City streets, where so many youth lose their way and wander guideless. Jerry lost his way and is deeply remorseful for the crimes he committed. He is a man who did wrong, and so took his punishment as a man does; he takes full accountability for his actions leading up to his conviction. He admits honestly to his crimes and the harm that he had caused to his victims, his family, his community, his city, and society at large.
However, while he had done wrong, he hadn’t done anything permanent. No crime he committed caused irreversible harm to anybody. No wrong that was committed couldn’t be righted. Still, Jerry’s sentencing Judge gave him an inescapably long sentence. It is a sentence that still aims to see Jerry die behind bars. It is the sentence that Jerry still serves today, with no formal legal options available to reverse that punishment.
When Jerry’s family think of his sentence, they see it only as inhumane, and that in no way was justice served by throwing Jerry away to die in a cage at the age of 28. The justice system will not take into account the work Jerry has put in, and the improvements he has made. Jerry admits that, though harsh, prison is the place where he bettered himself. His sentence is beyond reasonable, however, when it punishes Jerry beyond the chance to better his circumstances, when the rehabilitation offered by the prison system has run dry, despite having no impact on his legal options.
Without a second chance, Jerry, having exhausted all legally available avenues, is still set to die in prison. Over eleven years of incarceration, he has been completely free of infractions and incidents, not causing any trouble since entering the system. He is a man of deep faith who spends much of his time on spiritual and moral development. After taking advantage of rehabilitation options inside, he is now a sophomore in the Georgetown University Bachelors of Liberal Arts program at Patuxent Institution in Maryland, an experimental degree program offered to some of the best and brightest incarcerated individuals in the state. Jerry has a 3.78 grade point average and is in progress to graduate with a degree in Interdisciplinary Social Science. Throughout his incarceration, rehabilitation has been his primary focus, not only for self-improvement but to remain an effective and dedicated father, albeit restricted, given his circumstances.
Jerry's mother has created a Change.org Petition for Jerry linked here.
Mired in the struggles that plagued, and still plague today, Baltimore City’s less fortunate, struggles we must all know too well, Jerry committed a number of crimes for which he was convicted: kidnapping, armed robbery, carjacking, and assault. Throughout Jerry’s life were numerous encounters with law enforcement due to his drug-use, which started at age eleven. In 2003, after trying to turn his life around, Jerry lost his football scholarship at Bowie State University due to his drug problem. But prior to his current sentence, Jerry had never been to prison. His crimes were made in a desperation that consumed him, but started from childhood in the Baltimore City streets, where so many youth lose their way and wander guideless. Jerry lost his way and is deeply remorseful for the crimes he committed. He is a man who did wrong, and so took his punishment as a man does; he takes full accountability for his actions leading up to his conviction. He admits honestly to his crimes and the harm that he had caused to his victims, his family, his community, his city, and society at large.
However, while he had done wrong, he hadn’t done anything permanent. No crime he committed caused irreversible harm to anybody. No wrong that was committed couldn’t be righted. Still, Jerry’s sentencing Judge gave him an inescapably long sentence. It is a sentence that still aims to see Jerry die behind bars. It is the sentence that Jerry still serves today, with no formal legal options available to reverse that punishment.
When Jerry’s family think of his sentence, they see it only as inhumane, and that in no way was justice served by throwing Jerry away to die in a cage at the age of 28. The justice system will not take into account the work Jerry has put in, and the improvements he has made. Jerry admits that, though harsh, prison is the place where he bettered himself. His sentence is beyond reasonable, however, when it punishes Jerry beyond the chance to better his circumstances, when the rehabilitation offered by the prison system has run dry, despite having no impact on his legal options.
Without a second chance, Jerry, having exhausted all legally available avenues, is still set to die in prison. Over eleven years of incarceration, he has been completely free of infractions and incidents, not causing any trouble since entering the system. He is a man of deep faith who spends much of his time on spiritual and moral development. After taking advantage of rehabilitation options inside, he is now a sophomore in the Georgetown University Bachelors of Liberal Arts program at Patuxent Institution in Maryland, an experimental degree program offered to some of the best and brightest incarcerated individuals in the state. Jerry has a 3.78 grade point average and is in progress to graduate with a degree in Interdisciplinary Social Science. Throughout his incarceration, rehabilitation has been his primary focus, not only for self-improvement but to remain an effective and dedicated father, albeit restricted, given his circumstances.
Jerry's mother has created a Change.org Petition for Jerry linked here.