Introduce yourself

Hi everyone! My name is D'Anne. I live in Perdido, FL, while my son is incarcerated at FCI Atlanta-Low. Addictions have plagued my family bloodline for centuries, and I was no exception. I became addicted to alcohol but found an excellent recovery option that works well for me.

I thought I had my life under control; at least everything on the surface seemed fine. Hidden behind the 'seeming,' my son (17 at the time) was at the beginning of a long journey to eventual fentanyl addiction. It started with a prescription for oxycontin for painful kidney stones.

At age 29, he was incarcerated under the "Drug-Induced Homicide' (DIH) laws with a mandatory minimum sentence of 20 years in federal prison. He had shared fentanyl with a friend who was also a fentanyl addict, and his friend died. My son was charged with 'homicide by fentanyl.'

His case involved prosecutorial misconduct in the form of coercion of a guilty plea. The prosecutor indicted him on two additional charges in a separate case already solved. Now, my son was looking at 60 years vs. 20 years if he would plead guilty. After some research, we learned that 98% of drug cases are settled through plea deals, and the 2% that go to trial are won by the prosecutor 99% of the time. He had no choice but to plead guilty rather than risk two trials. If he lost, and the probability was very high he would, he would be sentenced to a minimum of 60 years.

My son has been incarcerated for 5 years, 3 months, and 13 days (so far).

I am currently finishing a book titled "The Criminalization of Addiction." In the book, I show, using medical evidence, that an addict cannot be a dealer in his drug of choice. This point is critical to a conviction under DIH laws; you must be a dealer. This was easily circumvented by the prosecutor with the forced plea deal.

I am so grateful to join all of you on this journey of advocating for prison reform! My heart is in this journey.