Lamont & Lawrence Garrison

Sentence: 15 ½ years & 19 ½ years*
Offense: Conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute cocaine (10 kg) & crack (500 g)
Priors: None
Year sentenced: 1998
Age at sentencing: 25
Projected release date: June 2, 2009 & February 8, 2012 

Identical twins Lawrence and Lamont Garrison were inseparable since their birth six minutes apart on an April morning. As they grew older, the brothers remained best friends and always supported each other. Both Lawrence and Lamont dedicated themselves to their studies in high school and were accepted to Howard University when they graduated.
 
The brothers thrived at college, earning excellent grades while working part-time to pay their tuition. They both planned to become lawyers to ensure that every person in the justice system received fair representation.  A month before the twins’ graduation, the owner of a Maryland auto body shop was arrested as a major player in a cocaine and crack conspiracy. The man quickly began implicating people to reduce his sentence. He told police that he had supplied Lawrence and Lamont with kilograms of crack and cocaine every week.  Other conspirators soon followed, testifying that they too had witnessed these transactions. 
 
At the time of their arrest, Lawrence and Lamont were full-time juvenile counselors in Maryland.  They had their Bachelor’s degrees and had held jobs at the Department of Justice and the Department of Energy. The twins’ only contact with the owner of the auto body shop occurred because a mechanic was performing extensive work on their grandmother’s car. Lawrence and Lamont would telephone the owner to check in about the job’s progress.
 
Sure of their innocence, the Garrison brothers went to trial.  They did not have enough money to hire an attorney, so they were appointed lawyers who often fell asleep during their court proceedings.  The twins’ mother reports that the lawyers failed to gather information and witnesses that would have easily dismantled the government’s shaky case against Lawrence and Lamont.
 
There was no physical evidence to prove that the twins’ used drugs, sold drugs, or even knew about the illegal activities of the shop owner. No narcotics, drug paraphernalia, or any other incriminating evidence was found on the twins or in their house. Their drug tests came up completely clean. Moreover, there is absolutely no proof that Lawrence or Lamont benefited from their alleged sale of such enormous amounts of drugs. The twins were living in their mother’s house and owed thousands of dollars in college loans.  Despite these facts, Lawrence and Lamont were sentenced to 15 and 19 years, respectively. Lamont’s sentence was increased by three years for obstructing justice because he testified in his own defense at trial.
 
The owner of the auto body shop gained tremendously from implicating Lawrence and Lamont: he is free after serving less than three years. Meanwhile, Lawrence and Lamont have been in federal prison for over ten years. While incarcerated, the twins have experienced many hardships, including illness and abuse. Lawrence recently discovered he was exposed daily to cancer-causing radiation in his prison UNICOR job. The brothers, incarcerated in different facilities, must obtain permission to write to each other.
 
Lawrence and Lamont have continued to help others in prison, just as they did outside. Upon their release, Lawrence wants to become a voice for all prisoners through legal work and lobbying. Lamont wants to pursue a career in business. Fortunately, both men benefited from the crack retroactivity amendment passed in 2007 and had three years cut off their sentences. Lawrence was released in 2009 and Lamont’s projected release date is in 2012. The lives of the Garrison twins and their family have been forever altered by the criminal justice system.
 
*Reduced under crack guideline retroactivity amendment.