Help Rolf see the Sunshine Again

The decades-old battle to free inmate whistleblower Rolf Kaestel is almost over. But I need your help.  

Rolf was a key source for my documentary Factor 8 , about how the State of Arkansas collected diseased blood from prisoners and sold it on the international market infecting thousands of people worldwide with HIV/AIDS and Hep-C.

After I interviewed him in 1999, he was whisked away to Utah and ‘disappeared.'

Rolf's served 40 years or a LIFE sentence for robbing a taco hut of $264 with a water pistol in Ft. Smith, Arkansas in 1981. Yes, you read that right! (See The Daily Beast article, He Robbed a Taco Joint With a Toy Water Gun for $264 - He Got Life in Prison.) 

It's important to know that Rolf didn't just "serve his time" while incarcerated.  He tried to better himself and help others. From The Daily Beast: "While in prison, Kaestel worked as a licensed paralegal for a local Arkansas firm, edited the penitentiary newspaper, the Long Line Writer, and filed lawsuits in an attempt to win privileges or uphold the rights of himself and fellow inmates. He’s earned three associate’s degrees and enough college credits to be shy of multiple bachelor’s degrees. At Central Utah Correctional Facility in Gunnison, where he was transferred midway through his sentence, he taught astronomy classes and has a job in the prison library. Now bald, missing teeth, surviving COVID-19 and diabetes, Kaestel has remained a model prisoner."

Even the victim, Dennis Schluterman, joined the cause to free Rolf.

After a long hard-fought campaign, Governor Hutchinson announced that he intends on granting Rolf clemency and will make him eligible for parole in 30 days. From there the Arkansas Parole Board will determine the specifics on Rolf's release. 

A lot has changed in four decades, and unlike Red in "The Shawshank Redemption," Rolf doesn't have an Andy Dufresne to help him. But he does have you.

Won't you please help him see the "sunshine" again once he's free? Your donation will go a long way in helping Rolf make a smooth transition to the outside world. 100% of the proceeds will go to Rolf!!!!   Thank you!

(NOTE: For PayPal Users: If you'd prefer to contribute via PayPal,  send contribution to paypal.me/kellyduda8 and I'll make sure Rolf gets the funds!)