A man who spent 20 years in prison for stealing two T-shirts has finally been released.
Guy Frank, who is 67 and from New Orleans, had pled guilty to stealing the two T-shirts 20 years ago while he was addicted to heroin and stealing to fund his addiction.
The T-shirts were stolen from Saks Fifth Avenue.
Frank was sentenced to 20-years under a law which stated that offenders who commit three crimes were to be given a severe sentence. None of Frank's crimes were violent and were the result of a substance abuse issue.
Frank was released early despite being sentenced to 23 years without the possibility of Parole after the Innocence Project New Orleans campaigned directly to the Orleans Parish District Attorney.
The IPNO said:
"He received this egregious sentence despite the fact that he was never a threat to anyone, and had never done more than steal in small amounts. His case shows how poor Black people are disproportionately affected by these extreme sentences. It is hard to imagine a White person with resources receiving this sentence for this crime."
They added in a statement:
"Even though he accepted responsibility for his crime, lawyers at District Attorney Harry Connick's office asked that the judge find him to be a multiple offender, because he had been convicted of theft multiple times before, and to enhance his sentence. Judge Sharon Hunter imposed on him a sentence of 23 years in the Department of Corrections without the possibility of parole."
A post shared by Innocence Project New Orleans (@_ipno_)
Louisiana is just one of many states that carry multiple offences law, whereby individuals can be locked away, even for life, as a result of committing several offences. Some states do not take into account whether the offences were violent or not. These laws go some way to explaining why the United States now has the highest prison-population in the world, and why so many individuals are incarcerated for so long despite never having committed a serious crime.
A GoFundMe page has been set up for those who would like to assist Frank in rebuilding his life.
[h/t: The Mind Unleashed]
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