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Terry Clark
25 Years
Crack Cocaine Until recently, l never really understood why the symbol of "Lady Justice" wore a blindfold over her eyes, and carried a set of unbalanced scales. Now I know.
My name is Terry, and I am a 48 year old African-American, from the west side of Chicago, Illinois. l am currently in my fourteenth year of incarceration of a 25 year sentence. .
As a result of the unfair "Mandatory Minimums" pursuant to Title 21 USC Section 851, stemming from a prior drug conviction, l am serving an additional ten years. I was convicted and sentenced to ten years for a drug offense, and given five additional years for a gun charge, and then given an additional ten years for a prior drug conviction for which I had received four years probation.
This case stems from an investigation that the federal government claims started in 1991 and ended in 1995, on the west side of Chicago. There were nineteen (19) defendants who went to trial as a result of this investigation, four (4) were acquitted, and fifteen (15) of us were found guilty of selling crack cocaine.
As a result of Amendment 706 of the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, which triggered the two-level reduction for crack cocaine, eleven of my co-defendants received reductions of their sentences, but I received no such reduction. The purpose of this story is to bring attention to the unfairness of these mandatory minimums and the unbalance of justice within the justice system.
l also want to prevent anyone else from having to experience the unfairness of this system first hand as I have, and continue to go through what I am going through. l guess my real question is: will she ever take off that blind fold, because she needs to see what she is doing to people like me, and when will she ever balance those scales?
Terry Clark 06590-424
Federal Prison Camp
PO Box 4000
Manchester, KY 40962-4000Posted 4/9/09
