When I sat and contemplated how I would find the words for such a letter it came to me that the words would find me. I was convicted of multiple felonies such as robberies, abductions, and firearms charges. On paper it looks as if I was a menace to society but in truth it was only youth and ignorance. That fateful night happened on May 2, 2001. I was 22 years old. In retrospect I can now see the “irony.” I was at that tender age. The charges on paper do not match the truth of what really happened that night. I was given a 43 year sentence. Nobody had to go to the hospital, nobody was touched at all. Yet and still I got more time than people who have murdered, rated, or violated a child. On top of that I have no parole because of the “time” I was convicted at. Over the years I’ve witnessed so much in this system that has me confused. In the same system people go up for parole who were sentenced to life and some of them are home as I write this. Now we are in a “global pandemic” and they are releasing “certain” inmate early. Thousands of people are dying, yet I am in here and not even being considered. These facilities aren’t equipped to handle an outbreak at all and I feel vulnerable. I also feel expendable. Does my life matter too? I’m a son, a dad, a brother, an uncle, and my role in my family is paramount. Im all actuality I am one expel of what’s right about corrections and the justice system and what is wrong. I’ve evolved in spite of my circumstances but i”m lost in the system because of when I was incarcerated. During this pandemic I’ve worked every day for 26 straight days. Mine and other people’s situations should be considered. I wasn’t sentenced to die but somehow it feels like that’s exactly the sentence I was given. I’m frightened, not by the virus but by a system that has no regard for me and men like me. No parole, really?