Stephanie Nodd

Sentence: 30 years
Offense: Conspiracy and possession with intent to distribute cocaine base; aiding and abetting
Priors: No adult priors
Year sentenced: 1990
Age at sentencing: 23
Projected release date: Nov. 11, 2016

Stephanie grew up in Mobile, Alabama. She became pregnant in ninth grade and dropped out of school to care for her child. Stephanie was barely 20 in 1988 when she met John, a handsome drug dealer with lots of money. John had come to Mobile to sell crack with another established dealer. He showered Stephanie with compliments, and promised to reward her generously for helping him set up business in the area. Stephanie introduced John to people and local drug spots, sold crack to customers on the street and later delivered cocaine and picked up money for him. In return, John gave her cash; money that Stephanie, a single mother, needed to provide for her three young children. A little over a month after meeting John, Stephanie was arrested and held accountable for over 6.5 kilos of crack cocaine that was estimated to have been sold in the Mobile area from July 1987 to August 1988.
 
Two years later, Stephanie was charged as a manager in the drug conspiracy and sentenced to 30 years in federal prison. Although Stephanie had no adult criminal record, she received a longer sentence than almost every one of her codefendants*, including John, who was released several years ago.
 
Two decades later, Stephanie is still incarcerated. She has earned her GED and taken college courses, obtained her forklift license, culinary certification, graduated from computer programming and completed many other programs.
 
In August 2006, Stephanie’s mother, the primary caretaker for her children, passed away. Stephanie was granted a five-day unescorted furlough to attend the funeral.  Elizabeth, Stephanie’s teenage daughter, was able to spend a few precious days with her mother who she has never seen outside of prison walls. Stephanie writes, “I cried myself asleep on the plane [coming back to prison] because I had to leave the people I love so dearly. I know I made some bad choices in my life and I take full responsibility for the wrong that I have done.”  Unless the law changes, Stephanie’s decision to sell drugs as a 20-year-old will ensure that she spends three decades behind bars, isolated from her family.
 
*At a resentencing district court hearing, Stephanie’s total offense level was reduced by 1 point because of lesser culpability than codefendants to 42. She was held accountable for 8 kilos of crack.
 
Stephanie writes about spending her 21st Mother's Day in a cell hundreds of miles away from her children.

Read more about Stephanie's story and crack retroactivity in Julie's Huffington Post op-ed.

Watch Stephanie's 2007 interview with NBC about her case, how the past 16 years of her incarceration have impacted her family and the need to reform mandatory minimums.