My uncle Greg  made some serious mistakes in his life. He was convicted in 1981 and  again in 1994 for theft of personal property. You see, Greg got caught up in the surfing and partying lifestyle of the So-Cal scene that ultimately lead to his demise.  After he was sentenced in 1994 for 32 months for a robbery charge, the state suspiciously waited until he was sentenced to retry him on a separate robbery charge, which meant instead of having the charges grouped together to get an extended sentence, he now qualified to be tried under California's Three Strikes Sentencing Law. He ended up being sentenced to 25 years to life for stealing a VCR and other small electronics. This law by the way is no longer in use as it was found to not have any positive impact on recidivism.

Greg admits he was a dummy and squandered his life away as a result of his terrible decisions he made when he was younger. When I first learned the details of my uncle's story, I thought to myself there has to be more to this case. How could they lock him up for 25 years to life for a couple of electronics? These were non-violent crimes. I'm not saying there were no victims, but the proportionality of punishment was really excessive in my eyes. From having conversations with my uncle, he understands that he hurt the people he took from and is genuinely remorseful. His biggest regret was not being able to see his parents one last time as both of them had died about a year ago. The guilt and pain of not being able to hold his mother’s hand and give her one last hug before she left us serves as a constant reminder of his mistakes.

Greg is trying to stay positive throughout this process as we work to help him secure the funds for his attorney. He is really looking forward to reconnecting with his two boys. He has a job on the inside providing linen cleaning services for the Veterans' hospitals at a rate of around 80 cents an hour. His crew has been burning the midnight oil to keep up with the increased demand to make sure our veterans and hospitals have the necessary supplies during this Covid-19 outbreak . 

If you believe in second chances at life, please find it in your heart to donate the amount of a small cup of coffee. The funds will go directly to an attorney from Nieves Law Firm in Oakland, California. The attorney fees of $9000.00 will cover records requests, risk assessment and social evaluation to help prepare Greg for his parole hearing and to physically be there to represent him thereby giving him the best opportunity to be granted parole and a chance at life again. 

There will be regular updates on Greg's status. Thank you all for your support!