Damon Smith -- #05673-078

10 Years -- Crack Cocaine Conspiracy

My name is Damon Smith, and I am 25 years old. I have no prior drug record. I had one-half of a kilogram of cocaine base and received a 10 year sentence. If not for mandatory minimums, I would be home with my family.

On May 21, 1996 I received a call to deliver a package. Five minutes after picking up the package, I was pulled over by the Beaumont, TX Sheriff,s department. They said the reason I had been pulled over was the light above my license plate did not work.

Within a minute of them letting me go, I was pulled over again. This time the car was searched, and I was let go without a ticket. Twenty minutes later, I was pulled over again. On this stop, a package of cocaine base was found.

I was named in a criminal complaint by the DEA on May 22, 1996. On June 19, 1996, I was named in a one count indictment by a grand jury, charged with possession of cocaine base with the intent to distribute.

For the next 7 years I will be sitting in prison, for a package I never saw the contents of. Then I will be on supervised release for 5 more years.

My family life has been turned upside down. I,m not there to help raise my nieces and nephews. My twenties have been taken away from me.