Wednesday, April 22, 2020 -
Last evening, I received an answer from Warden H. Allen Beard to my request to be sent to home confinement as I meet all the criteria: I am high risk because of my age (nearly 65), high blood pressure, diabetes, and heart attack history, and I am at minimum risk for recidivism, am non-violent, and am not a sex offender.
The warden answered, “You have a conviction of ‘International Parental Kidnapping.’
“The criteria set down from AG Barr says, ‘The inmate’s crime of conviction’ and ‘other serious offenses should weigh more heavily against consideration for home detention.’ With this in mind, you do not meet the criteria for home detention with your current offense.”
This made my heart sink and actually made me somewhat angry. The fact that helping to rescue a little girl from court-sanctioned sexual abuse is treated with far more severity, than drug dealing, which destroys many people’s lives, and fraud, as well as other “crimes”, seems absolutely outrageous to me.
I have asked Kathie to request a legal opinion to find out if indeed “International Parental Kidnapping” is specifically excluded from the “CARES Act” pertaining to the coronavirus pandemic, the First Step Act, or the Senior Home Detention Pilot Program.
My caseworker claims I am eligible for the Senior Home Detention Pilot Program, but not the First Step Act. My “jailhouse lawyer,” “D,” claims I am actually eligible for even the First Step Act. And it sounds as if the CARES Act is up to the discretion of the Bureau of Prisons. I need a definitive answer from an attorney to be sent to the warden and copied to me. This is an obscure statute that I have been convicted under with very few cases of prior convictions, only a single handful.
In addition, Kathie and I are asking people to write letters to Warden H. Allen Beard of FCI Ashland, copying B.O.P. Director Michael Carvajal, Attorney General Barr, and President Donald Trump, making the case for my release and the fact that my “crime,” which according to the affirmative defense allowing removal of a child if there was a pattern of abuse invalid, is not a crime at all. This was denied to me in my defense.
The other option is for Judge Arcara to vacate my sentence, and I have until May 21 to get my final response to the attorneys’ and government’s response to my request for him to vacate. Pray for “D” as he is preparing this. I have no ability to directly contact him now.
This morning, however, the Lord gave me great peace, and I’ve had to ask for forgiveness for being angry. I know that He is in control. He is our victor! God may choose to leave me here for a few more weeks, or even a few more months, for a purpose I know not. Who am I to second guess His reasons for all of this or for the warden to deny me home confinement at this time? “‘For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways,’ says the Lord.” (Isaiah 55:8).
“Blessed are those who have been persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven. Blessed are you when men cast insults at you, and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely, on account of Me. Rejoice, and be glad for your reward in heaven is great for so they persecuted the prophets who are before you.” (Matthew 5:10-12) The warden equated my crime and me with violent offenders and sex offenders, the vilest and detestable of all inmates in prison according to inmates and guards alike. Of this, I need to rejoice and be glad, as hard as it is to take.
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