Beltasar Lopez -- #03457-089

13 Years -- Cocaine Conspiracy


Beltasar Lopez, prisoner of the drug war
I was sentenced in 1993, to thirteen years without the possibility of parole on a cocaine conviction. I am 42 years old, a first-time nonviolent offender -- no drugs were ever confiscated, only the word of a government informant.

I am the father of eight children -- since my incarceration my wife has has valiantly struggled to hold our family together. We receive no public aid, consequently, the majority of money my wife earns goes to day care for our children.

Due to my incarceration, my wife and my children are suffering a sentence as well. They live a life of economic and social poverty.

Even as I write this, I search ... for the justice, a man makes a mistake and the political solutions of today are to call for not only his, but that of his family's social and economic death.