Every incarcerated person should have the opportunity to come home. There are thousands of New Yorkers who apply for clemency year after year and never receive a response. Please read and share their stories below! Find twitter graphics of each person’s profile here. Make sure to tag @KathyHochul in any tweets or posts highlighting these stories. If you have a loved one or client with a pending clemency application that you would like highlighted on this page (with their permission), please fill out this form. *Please note* This page is meant to highlight New Yorkers with pending clemency applications; it is not a clemency application submission to the Governor. To officially submit an application, please visit this website.
Shantelle Scruggs
Loving mother of 3
Won’t be eligible for parole for 11 more years
Has not received a single disciplinary infraction, lives in the honors housing wing
Should be home
Lance Sessoms
Serving 75 years to life sentence
Has already served 35 years
Earned a degree in psychology while in prison
Should be home
Willie Smith
Went to prison at 20 years old
Been incarcerated over 35 years
Works with at-risk youth, is a peer educator
Should be home
Frank Pruitt
Incarcerated 31 years
Will not be eligible for parole until 2038
Leads weekly Bible study
Should be home
Kim Brown
54 years old
Sentenced to 40 years to life
HIV/AIDS counselor, AVP facilitator
Should be home
Rodney Chandler
Was sent to prison at 17 years old
Works in the prison hospice
Learned sign language while in prison
Should be home
Beatrice Camper
Serving 15 years to life
A domestic abuse survivor, a mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother
Has many health issues + complications due to Covid
Should be home
Matthew Lemon
62 years old and has been incarcerated 40 years
Sentenced to 70 years. Will be 93 before he sees parole board
Mentors at-risk youth
Should be home
Julian Castillo
Incarcerated when only 16-years-old
Earned his GED, Bachelors, and Masters
Mentors young people through the Youth Assistance Program
Should be home
Paul Cortez
Graduate of Exodus Transitional Services
Alternatives to Violence Project facilitator
A singer, musician, and published author
Should be home
Kristian Hansen
Sentenced to LWOP in 1996
Has been denied clemency four times
Works with the Youth Assistance Program mentoring youth
Should be home
Robert Green
Sadly, Robert passed away in Coxsackie RMU on September 17, 2022. He should have been home with his family.
Sentenced to 51 years to life for a crime he didn’t commit
Submitted clemency request in 2012
Samuel Sabatino
Went to prison at 82 years old
Was in the ICU in prison for months with Covid and is now disabled because of it
A father and grandfather
Should be home
Robert Ehrenberg
*Robert was granted clemency in August 2021
Arnold Raimondo
*Arnie was granted clemency in December 2020
Patrick Stephens
*Patrick came home on parole in May 2022
Morris Grady
67 years old
Already served 17 years
Has completed all required programs and has a supportive wife and family
Should be home
Derrick Brown
Been incarcerated since 17
Sentenced to 35 years to life, already served 31 years
Recently accepted into Bard Prison Initiative
Should be home
Tyrone James
Has been incarcerated for over 27 years
First submitted a clemency application in 2016
Incarcerated at 16
Should be home
John Moore
Sentenced to life without parole at 19
Pursuing an Associate’s Degree in the Cornell Prison Education Program
Has not received disciplinary infraction in almost 13 years
Should be home
Nashawn Pettway
Sentenced to 25 years to life for a crime he didn’t commit
Already served 20 years and won’t be parole eligible until September 2028
Completed numerous programs and received no disciplinary infractions
Should be home
Walter Tyrone Smith
Living with COVID 19 and medical complications
73 years old, and has been in prison for 40 years
Mentor, educator,counselor
Should be home
“Knowledge” Johnson
Incarcerated 40 years
Was sentenced to 75 to life
Devout and committed Quaker
Should be home
Jose Colon
Was sent to prison at 17 years old
Has served 23 years of a 30-year-to-life sentence
Won’t be parole-eligible until 2029
Should be home
David Bronson
51 years old
Sentenced to 35 years to life
Is in the puppies behind bars program
Should be home
Anthony Ruffin
Went to prison at 16 years old
Sentenced to 18 years to life
Participates in Cornell’s Prison Education Program
Should be home
Taliyah Taylor
Sentenced to 22 years to life
Will not be parole-eligible for 7 more years
Has multiple letters of support from reentry organizations
Should be home
David Sell
45-year-old husband, father, and grandfather
Won’t be parole-eligible until 2036
Cares for aging & terminally ill in hospice
Should be home
Craig Jackson
Arrested at only 16 years old
Facilitator for Alternatives to Violence Project
Vice-President and Facilitator for Prisoners for AIDS Counseling and Education
Should be home
Antwon Dennis
Serving 25 years to life
Has already been in prison for 33 years
Wrongfully Convicted
Should be home
Tracy White
Went to prison in his early 20s
Has completed numerous programs while incarcerated
A father and husband
Should be home
Stanley Bellamy
Granted Clemency in April 2023
Now works as the NYC Organizer for the RAPP Campaign
Bryon Russ
Granted clemency in April 2023
Richard “Lee” Chalk
*Lee was granted clemency in August 2021
Paul León
*Paul came home on parole in August 2022
Ulysses Boyd
*Ulysses was granted clemency in August 2021
Curtis Tucker
*Curtis was granted parole in 2022
Robert Webster
*Robert was granted clemency in September 2022
Tallulah Gillespie
Tallulah came home in September 2022
Jacob Rouse
33-year-old husband and father
Went to prison at 19 years old, serving 22 years to life
Never received disciplinary infraction
Should be home
Angela Dozier
In her 50s
Sentenced to 25 years to life, already served 17+ 1/2 years
Obtained Associate’s and Bachelor’s degree in prison
Should be home
Darr Williams
Incarcerated at 21 years old
Is now in his 50s, serving over 33 years
Mentored more than 7,750 youth in 15 years
Should be home
Barbara James
Sentenced to 40 years to life, already served 32 years
In her 60s
Lives in an honor dorm
Should be home
Juan Rivas
Was sentenced to 16 years maximum at 19 years old
Has already served more than half of his sentence
Has supportive wife & family to help him transition home
Should be home
Jose “Tony” Medina
66 years old, has served 40 years of his sentence
Taught himself how to read and write Spanish & English.
A lung cancer survivor, and high risk for Covid
Should be home
Christopher Simmons
Has served 70% of sentence
Facilitator for Alternatives to Violence Project
Learned ASL + worked with visually impaired people
Should be home
David Moore
In 15th year of 25 to life sentence
Alternatives to Violence Project facilitator
Has obtained multiple trade skills and training certificates
Should be home
Joy Powell
Pastor who organized against police brutality before prison
A survivor and activist for women incarcerated with her
Serving 16 years on a wrongful conviction
Should be home
Diane Odell
Went to prison at age 50 as mother of 8, now grandmom
Has served 16 of her 25 years to life sentence
Won’t be parole-eligible until 2028
Should be home
Allan Lansbury
Went to prison at 15, has been incarcerated for 24 years
Has completed numerous programs & mentors youth
Applied for clemency this year
Should be home
Robert A. Jones
58 years old, has been in prison 28 years
Has been denied parole for 10 years past his minimum sentence
A skilled carpenter
Should be home
Brian Hunt
49 years old, went to prison at the age of 16
Hasn’t had a disciplinary infraction in 22 years.
Not parole-eligible until 2029
Should be home
Glen Smith
Sentenced to 25 years with no chance for parole
Has already served 16 years
Lost his only child at the beginning of this year and has a grandson
Should be home
Paul Clark
*Paul was granted clemency in August 2021
Freddy Medina
*Freddy came home on parole in September 2022
Greg Mingo
*Greg was granted clemency in August 2021
*If you have a loved one or client with a pending clemency application that you would like highlighted on this page (with their permission), please fill out this form. If you are having trouble with the form or have questions, please email Melissa at mntanis89@gmail.com.