IRP6 Writes Letters to the Public, Expressing how it feels To Be Wrongfully Convicted and in Prisonfor a crime They Didnt

Commit!

Everything I own, wear and snack on fits in a locker that is waist high and shoulder width, with 5 clothes hooks and 2 laundry bags. Everything I can buy at the "store" fits on one sheet of paper. My bed is about the width of a baby's crib and is either a metal or concrete slab or has springs like wire hangers. I am told when to wake, eat, talk, not talk, go to bed, go to work, where to work, when to shop, what to eat, who I live with, where I can go, what I can do and not do. If you're in for a nonviolent offense you're spared living with people who're in for violent crimes but your neighbors and cell mates are a mix of drug dealers, drug addicts, alcoholics, psychopaths, sociopaths, pathological liars, mentally retarded, narcissists, illiterates, over educated jackasses, gang members, white racists, Hispanic racists, black racists, extortionists, fraudsters, sexual deviants, malcontents, cynics, wrongfully imprisoned, with personalities ranging from Mister Rogers to Mr. T.
Gary Walker, CEO, IRP Solutions

In my journey from city holding cells, federal detention and federal prison camp, I've lived in a dorm where I never saw the sun and never left the dorm, a 2 man cell with stainless steel toilet, and a 2 or 3 man cell crammed with beds, lockers, a chair that wasn't large enough for me to drop and do push-ups in. I've been strip searched so much that it's no longer a big deal. I haven't experienced any time of peace and quiet. The racial make-up in prison lets me know that we haven't achieved "liberty and justice for all" and lady justice is far from blind. Prison is a place where the common reply to "what's up?" is "S.O.S", for same old s**t. Unlike higher security level facilities such as USP, medium security prisons and detention centers, there is little risk of death, rape or stabbing in prison camps. But, there is still the separation from your loved ones, the bad food, the loss of your freedom and liberty, and the boredom. The boredom drives some to adopt rigid routines to get through each day and causes others, like me, to avoid routine at all costs. It's a place where best friends disappear, wedding vows lose their meaning or some marriages against all odds, through love and resolve manage to survive, or miraculously some become stronger. A place where long sentences, lost appeals and life's unrealized hopes cause some to lose the will to wake up to another day or causes you to summon untapped mental and spiritual strength. Where hearing your favorite songs can put a wide smile on your face and send you bopping around the joint or drive you into a deep bout of home sickness. We're in this place, but we all know that our families are serving time of their own. Sincerely, Gary

IRP6 Writes Letters to the Public, Expressing how it feels To Be Wrongfully Convicted and in Prisonfor a crime They Didnt Commit!
I have been in prison for 10 months now, for something I didn't do. Some days, I can hardly believe it. Throughout the day, I always see the sign that says Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Prisons and I say to myself, "I can't believe I am in prison". Of course, I don't like being here, but I refuse to let it bring me down. I refuse to be sad and I refuse to get bitter and angry at the system, as a whole. To let bitterness and hatred reign in my heart will destroy me and will cloud my vision to fight constructively for David Banks, COO, IRP Solutions my freedom. I have complete faith and confidence that God will not let this injustice stand and I will gain my freedom. I am grateful that I have a strong support system from my family, friends, church and the organization, A Just Cause, who tirelessly fight to expose the government and its judicial corruption that brought me here. What I think about the most in prison is the pain this has caused to my family, friends and church. Additionally, I am filled with continual thoughts about the corrupt, reprehensible actions by the prosecutor and the judge that brought me here. The judge and the prosecutor knew from the evidence presented, we never committed a crime. When I think about the things they've done, all I can do is shake my head in disbelief that there are justice officials with such depravity of mind that they knowingly and willfully can take a person's liberty when they know that a crime was not committed. They saw the evidence of innocence and completely ignored it. It was obvious that Judge Arguello wanted the prosecutor to win the case, which prompted her refusal to let key expert witnesses testify, forced the testimony of a defendant and lied about it on the record. Then she covered up the lie, by conspiring with the court reporter to destroy the transcript. It is the height of hypocrisy that Judge Arguello sits in judgment of others actions, but refuses to take responsibility for her own. The prosecutor is complicit with the judge and also refuses to take responsibility for their part in this corruption. I try to figure out what their motivation was to deny us a fair trial. Was it money? Big business? Racism? Political favor? I have concluded that probably all were contributors. I have only seen such depravity of mind with the likes of Saddam Hussein, Assad in Syria and, yes even, Osama Bin Laden. Some people might say that it is an extreme reach for me to compare these U.S. justice officials to the likes of these individuals, but these justice officials are responsible for taking lives and destroying families---just because they have the power to do so. They all are tyrants that use their power in corrupt ways to destroy life. In some ways these justice officials are worse than those mentioned above because they do their acts in secret and cover it up under a cloak of justice. Some may say to my comparison is unfair because Hussein murdered innocent people and I am still alive. To that I say "Life is Liberty" and to take liberty is to take life. This experience has not soured me on the justice system as a whole but has enlightened me. I still believe that there are good judges and prosecutors, but I believe that our system of justice is in desperate need of reform. For example, Judge Emmitt Sullivan, who presided over the Senator Ted Stevens corruption investigated into the corruption of the Government when they hid exculpatory evidence and made the results public. Who do we have to investigate judicial corruption? Other judges that are part of the judicial fraternity? Can't expect much from that. When you give someone great power and authority without accountability that encourages tyranny. Judicial and prosecutorial immunity promotes tyranny from prosecutors and judges and until Congress passes laws that really punishes judicial and prosecutorial corruption citizens will continue to be hurt.

IRP6 Writes Letters to the Public, Expressing how it feels To Be Wrongfully Convicted and in Prisonfor a crime They Didnt Commit!
Every day, I continually hear from people and attorneys that the Government can do whatever they want to do and there is nothing that can be done about it. I have never seen so much fear of the Government from everyone I talk to, including attorneys and the media who refused to cover our story. Makes me think the media is state-controlled. Thomas Jefferson said "When the government fears the people there is liberty. When the people fear the government there is tyranny". I realize that justice only comes from God and that is where my faith lies. Sincerely, David B.

Imagine yourself convicted and sentenced to years in prison for a crime you didn't commit and having to adjust to an environment that is less than humane. Then, imagine sleeping on a steel bunk bed with a 2" pad, eating meat and cereal that is labeled, "not fit for human consumption" and being forced to wear underwear, previously worn by someone else. It is so demeaning; no guilty person, in prison should have to endure this type of treatment and certainly not those, like myself that are innocent of all charges!
Clinton Stewart, VP Business Development, IRP Solutions

Sincerely, Clinton

Acts 20:24 describes best for me the feelings I have associated with being in prison for a crime that I'm not guilty of..."But none of these things move me, neither count I my life dear unto myself, so that I might finish my course with joy..." Everything has been taken from me and is now gone, so in my heart I have to let everything go for the time being. Nothing here belongs to me and I can't provide anything for myself. But I still, somehow, feel the need to live to the fullest and make the best of this situation. So, the aforementioned scripture is how I do it, because without it, I would be in despair, crushed with boredom and blinded to a good future. If I would allow it, you are constantly surrounded by a depressed resignation which tries to take your hope away. Like a sickness, it is in everyone here and they try to spread it to anyone that passes by. But every day, I reject it and keep moving forward, because each day only GOD keeps me above it. Sincerely, Kendrick
Kendrick Barnes, CIO, IRP Solutions

IRP6 Writes Letters to the Public, Expressing how it feels To Be Wrongfully Convicted and in Prisonfor a crime They Didnt Commit!
I had often wondered, what my ancestors felt like when they were taken and sold into slavery against their will. Taken from their families and stripped of freedom and taken from the people that loved them. I now know and have a better understanding of what a slave might of felt when they were uprooted, beaten, tortured and deprived of what most humans are allowed to experience. What is the definition of a slave? To reduce to bondage. Slavery: the practice or institution of keeping slaves.

I can say that the justice system of America is actively promoting and furthering this notion and bringing individuals that do not conform or those who stand up against an oppressive system are punished and/or enslaved. Prison is such a destination for those who fight for what is right. We stood and fought valiantly and told our story. A story to bring the Law Enforcement community into the 21st century, but yet found guilty by a corrupt system (Prosecutor, Judge and false witnesses). I know my brothers and I are innocent, this is why I am writing to you from inside of a prison camp in Colorado, being enslaved and having our freedom trampled upon by a gov't that has perverted justice for far too long. Now when someone is innocent of wrong-doing and then still put in prison that is SLAVERY. The next question is, "How many innocent people are now slaves in America? Don't talk about other countries, let's look at this country. A country described as "America the free and the brave"! FREE like Freedom...I have witnessed and seen with my own eye's that this very system, this socalled justice system, has been built on corruption (defined as: the departure from what is pure or correct: depraved/evil; perverted into a state of moral weakness). But yet, America preaches to other countries of the treatment of their citizens (Iraq/China/Russia), but yet that same corruption exists here and thrives under the guise of justice! If my voice can be heard from outside this camp, I would say that my freedom has been stripped and thanks be to God, that I have friends and family, who also know of my innocence, as well as, that of my brothers and continue to fight for that which is RIGHT! This systems has to change; Why?? Corruption/Freedom/Justice (the lack thereof). I am not bitter, but I am a fighter for that which is right, and what has happen here is NOT RIGHT and those in this judicial system know it! Corruption must stop in the judicial system. Justice must be blind and impartial. America has long gotten away from this fact. Freedom: the liberation from slavery, imprisonment or restraint or from undue arbitrary and despotic power control of another. I WANT MY FREEDOM BACK! Sincerely, Demetrius

Demetrius Harper DKH Enterprises

This year, I spent my birthday in the Federal Prison Camp (FPC) in Florence, Colorado. You may wonder, if it is was a happy birthday or an unhappy birthday. It was neither; it was just another day in the camp. I did the same things I have done every day. I ate (not very much), slept (not very well), read, listened to news, prayed, worked (for 18 cent per hour) and talked with friends. Not much different from an average day.

IRP6 Writes Letters to the Public, Expressing how it feels To Be Wrongfully Convicted and in Prisonfor a crime They Didnt Commit!
The big difference between your world and my world is my world consists of about 1 square mile of land that I cannot leave and a 7' x 11' cubical where my bed and locker are, as well as, my cellmate's bed and locker. The locker is 2 feet wide by 4 feet tall and stores all my possessions. I wear a green shirt, green pants and black boots every day. You have choices where to live, what to wear, what to eat, when to eat and where to work. I do not.
David Zirpolo, VP Professional Services, IRP Solutions

If you were to ask everyone that has ever known me where I would be spending my birthday, a federal prison camp would not even be on the list. It never even crossed my mind, in every scenario I thought my life would take, that I would be here. It would be easier to understand and endure, if I had actually committed a crime, but I did not. This experience has opened my eyes to how easily our judicial system can destroy a person's life and family without cause. It seems like every week you hear about another person being released after decades in prison because they were wrongfully convicted. This is due to corrupt prosecutors, law enforcement personnel, judges and witnesses. It has become an epidemic in the United States, but unfortunately, one where there is no great effort to produce a cure. I question our representatives and courts that allow laws that are so vague that the average American can commit a felony, just by going about their daily routine at work or at home. More and more we see money buys "justice". When a large corporation can admit to committing a huge fraud against the United States Government and only pay a fine, but the average citizen who is accused of fraud (wrongfully convicted) will end up in prison for a significant sentence, something is wrong. We even have judges who believe the sentences are not strong enough. My sense of understanding justice in America has been completely turned around by this experience. We, as a country, complain about other countries oppressing their citizens while we do the same thing under the cover of our judicial system. But once "criminals" are imprisoned there is no rehabilitation provided. Inmates are oppressed by the system both before and after they are released from prison. Felons have a stigma that prevents them for obtaining a good job and those that want to better themselves do not have the opportunity (besides a GED) in prison. No wonder recidivism is so high. I now see that my view of the justice system was through rose colored glasses. I drank the Kool-Aid and believed we had the best and most just system in the world. I was wrong. I found it is true that money makes the world go round and it can buy freedom or imprisonment. Every day I see how oppression is encompassing our country, but people turn a blind eye to it or allow amnesia to overtake them. I am glad my eyes are now open and as our story is told that maybe it will help someone else going through the pain of a wrongful conviction. As I observe the differences between me (and the rest of the IRP6) and other inmates, one of the biggest differences is support. I see many inmates with friends and relatives in the immediate area, who never visit them. While we have visits every weekend from friends and family. I see men here who never see or hear from their attorney, while we have attorney calls and visits. While at the Denver Detention Center, the first night we were incarcerated our attorney arrived after midnight to see each one of us. The men in Denver were shocked that someone came out. Some of the men had never even seen their attorney and may not until the day of their trial. Having a support system, as we have, is very rare. To know there are people who are showing their support for you in many different ways, (books, visits, marches, calls, letters, and so much more) is so uplifting and encouraging. We could have easily been left behind and forgotten. I experienced that personally with my immediate family. So for me, having the support of a church family and a pastor who truly cares makes my heart swell. There is not enough that can be said about having people on the outside that truly care and support you wholeheartedly.

IRP6 Writes Letters to the Public, Expressing how it feels To Be Wrongfully Convicted and in Prisonfor a crime They Didnt Commit!
It is said by the prison counselors and case workers that family and friend support is very important, but when you have an incident report the first thing they take away are calls and visits. The prison system is hypocritical in all that they do. Change to the system must come, if we are to have inmates released to society that are reformed, improved and productive members of society and wrongful convictions must cease! Sincerely, David Z.