Category: Stories

“I am not saying that I am innocent. I did some really foolish things and failed to reach out for help for my addiction. I broke my mother’s heart.” Celeste Blair’s path from childhood trauma to addiction to prison is all too common. At the end of such a path, is a decades-long sentence really…

Andrea Strong worked at FAMM practically since day one. She was our Director of Member Services, and over the years she talked to countless families with loved ones in prison. She knew firsthand the pain of having a loved one behind bars; her brother was given a life sentence for marijuana charges.

“I know he needs help, and that he needs to face the consequences for his actions. But my question is: Will prison “fix” him? Does prison help any addict?”

My story is about two second chances. The first is mine – I got one. I spent 11 years in prison, and I was released a little early because of the First Step Act. The other one I want to tell you about is a second chance that I wish someone else could get. His…

Jomari DeLeon made two drug sales over 24 hours, making less than $200. Kingpin? Hardly. Yet this first-time offender was sentenced to 15 years. Even the judge didn’t want to give her that much time. And making matters worse, the same crime today carries three years. A second chance for Jomari is humane, just, and…

Rick, a drug addict with no prior criminal convictions, was sentenced to 40 years in federal prison because of mandatory minimum sentencing laws. The judge at his trial had no choice but to hand down the brutal sentence, calling it “wrong” and “excessive.” Rick, now 38, arrived at federal prison in July of 2018, knowing…

UPDATE: Erik was released in February 2021 through a resentencing to time served. Kerry Weyant’s son Erik is living the nightmare that is Florida’s 10-20-Life mandatory minimum. Erik was sentenced to 20 years for firing a gun into the air to ward off attackers, even though no one was hurt. In 2016, Florida changed the…