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Richard Daniel Perrine -- #40154-008
16 Years -- Methamphetamine Conspiracy
Sentenced to 15 years and 1 month in March, 1995 for conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine
My name is Richard Daniel Perrine. I am 26 years old. While trying to help raise money for a terminally ill friend who needed a heart transplant, I became the focus of the D.E.A.
A month and seventeen days after my twentieth birthday, I was arrested on three drug charges and three weapons charges. Five months later, after almost losing my attorney, I was given a plea bargain to sign. I was facing a statutory mandated 45 years if convicted on all three gun charges, so I signed. I received 15 years on two counts of my indictment. I am a first-time offender.
My terminally ill friend on the other hand, did have prior convictions. He faced a minimum of 30 years. But because he sold his soul to the government, he only received 90 months. Even though the judge in our case was truly dissatisfied with what was happening, he could do nothing about it. Because of guideline sentencing, the judge was not allowed to go below the mandatory minimums on my charges, even though I am a first-time offender.
However, because my co-defendant gave special assistance to the prosecution, the guidelines allowed the judge to give him a decrease in sentence. You would think that the greater crime would justify the harsher sentence. This is not the case here. This is sad and it is the same way for thousands of other first-time offenders. Hopefully, one day, we will allow the judges to have their powers back that prohibit prosecutors and government agencies from abusing theirs.
February 20, 2007 at 8:45 PM, Richard Daniel Perrine was released from FCI Victorville.
16 Years -- Methamphetamine Conspiracy
My name is Richard Daniel Perrine. I am 26 years old. While trying to help raise money for a terminally ill friend who needed a heart transplant, I became the focus of the D.E.A.
A month and seventeen days after my twentieth birthday, I was arrested on three drug charges and three weapons charges. Five months later, after almost losing my attorney, I was given a plea bargain to sign. I was facing a statutory mandated 45 years if convicted on all three gun charges, so I signed. I received 15 years on two counts of my indictment. I am a first-time offender.
My terminally ill friend on the other hand, did have prior convictions. He faced a minimum of 30 years. But because he sold his soul to the government, he only received 90 months. Even though the judge in our case was truly dissatisfied with what was happening, he could do nothing about it. Because of guideline sentencing, the judge was not allowed to go below the mandatory minimums on my charges, even though I am a first-time offender.
However, because my co-defendant gave special assistance to the prosecution, the guidelines allowed the judge to give him a decrease in sentence. You would think that the greater crime would justify the harsher sentence. This is not the case here. This is sad and it is the same way for thousands of other first-time offenders. Hopefully, one day, we will allow the judges to have their powers back that prohibit prosecutors and government agencies from abusing theirs.
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He had to take a Greyhound bus home, since his unit officer did not "trust" his family to take him to the halfway house. If we interfered with his transportation (such as meeting his bus along one of the stops) they would consider him an escapee and send him back to prison. To me it was just one more slap in the face after so many others dealt over the 13.5 years he was incarcerated. We would extend grace while those in the system would not. We waited and met his bus.
Words cannot describe the feeling of being able to see your son walking around outside, being able to have your whole family there to hug him as many times as they wanted. To buy him elegant dinner instead of vending machine crap. (He wasn't scheduled to be at the halfway house until 11 PM) He's now out of the halfway house and living at home. He has a great job, a truck, a bank account and a whole lot of family and friends supporting him. Even though he's at home he still has to pay the halfway house, attend meetings, and go give a UA or breath analyzer. They call constantly at all hours to make sure he's where he's supposed to be but these are trivial things.
My son is home! -- Marcella Davidson