To: Indiana Parole Board
Date of hearing: July 6,2021
From: Jimmy D. Jones D.O.C. #891782
Loc: Ind. state prison
Date Paroled: July 28, 2020
Cause No: 49G02 9312 CF 16043
Sentence Paroled On: Count 3 Felon with a Gun
PRD: 7/12/21 MRD: 10/31/21
Parole Conditions: Rule #2 Unauthorized Change of Residence
Rule # 10 Failure to Abide by Special Parole Conditions
Rule #3(a) Unauthorized Out-of-State Travel
Thank you for allowing me this opportunity to plead my case to the board and I pray that you will consider what I am saying here with an open mind. I humbly stand before you accepting full responsibility for my actions which has led to this parole hearing. I am not going to waste the board’s time with excuses or trying to justify my actions because honestly there are none that could be made on my behalf at this point. We all know that I should have handled the situation better and I truly regret that I allowed my anger and frustration to get the best of me. Nevertheless I believe I do owe you all an honest explanation as to how we got here to this point, and that is the purpose of this document which the board can consider as my official statement in these proceedings and should include it as part of the official record.
First I confess to the board that I was not properly prepared to deal with the conditions of parole and all the pressure associated with them. You must understand that I had just spent the last 26 1/2 years of my life incarcerated in max security level 3 and 4 facilities where the conditions force you to adopt a specific kind of mentality necessary for survival. My entire adult life has been spent in this harsh, dangerous environment and when I was released last year immediately I began to struggle with trying to turn off the switch to a mindset which is all I have ever known. My way of thinking I realize wasn’t healthy nor productive and many situations I encountered, especially parole, was a constant struggle to maintain. Yet despite all of this I hope the board keeps on mind that I avoided committing any additional new crimes and never had contact with law enforcement outside of issues not related to parole.
The crimes that I was convicted on and paroled under took place back in 1993 and were the actions on an 18yr old irrational kid high on drugs. That was almost 30 years ago and while I’m not minimizing the serious nature of those crimes,, the board has to acknowledge the fact that the victim in this case was never physically harmed. And I am only pointing this reality out because I would honestly like to know how much more time from my life does the state of Indiana require I forfeit before it will be satisfied my debt to society is paid in full? Because here I am now: a 46yr old man still being called to be held accountable for the actions of a foolish 18yr old kid. After 27 years I am simply pleading to be allowed to have what is left of my life back!
My parole agent has charged me with violating:
Rule #2 Unauthorized Change of Residence and
Rule #10 Failure to Abide by Special Parole Conditions
These two violations are a result of my failure to return to the Volunteer of America treatment program that the board ordered me into in January of this year. I honestly don’t understand how I was issued two violations for the same act but nevertheless I am guilty of not returning to the VOA. With the alarming rate of unauthorized departures of parolees from the VOA I am pretty sure this board is well aware of the conditions at that facility. The reality is that the VOA is a very toxic environment where I simply was not receiving the treatment that the board sent me there to receive. The program is inadequate due to staff incompetency or blatant neglect and the facility has become another one of the city’s lucrative drug spots where illegal drugs are being sold and consumed around the clock. During the five weeks I was held there, two residents overdosed on heroin and a dozen more were arrested for dealing drugs. Designed to only be a sixty day treatment program where residents’ progress is measured by providing clean drug screens weekly over a consecutive four week time frame. I was only given two drug tests by my parole agent the entire five weeks I was there. I passed both of those drug tests for the record. Not once however did I ever meet the program drug treatment specialist or receive any type of outline for drug treatment. As a result of this neglect my progress could not be accurately documented placing my release on indefinite hold. This kept me from resuming the life I had been struggling to piece together after 26 1/2 years of incarceration.
Instead I was stuck at the VOA being exposed daily to the toxic fumes coming from the heavy cloud of K2 smoke which lingered in the air all throughout the dorm area. Staff allowed residents to hang out in the restroom all day and smoke this poison and my health began to be negatively affected. I had to be rushed to the hospital twice because of my exposure to this toxic mess. My first trip to the hospital was due to my eyes swelling up and pus leaking from them. The doctor placed me on medication and sent me back to the VOA but within a week later I woke up with severe chest pain struggling to breathe and coughing up black phlegm. I was rushed to the hospital again where I spent all night being treated for a lung infection. It was at this point I had had enough, not willing to risk my health any further. So I did not go back when I was released from the hospital and in hindsight I realize that I should have handled this situation better but anger and frustration made me once again blinded by the prison mentality which prevented me from using logic and reason.
I’ve also been charged with violating:
Rule #3(a) Unauthorized Out-of-State Travel
To this charge I simply plead guilty having travelled to the state of Georgia to visit my younger sister Klisha Green who I had not seen in over 20 years. While I was incarcerated both of our parents passed away and this left a huge void in both our lives. Once I left the VOA I knew that eventually I would be arrested and sent back to prison to deal with my parole violation. Well aware of the dangers behind these prison walls and the fact that I might not survive to make it out to see my loved ones again, I needed to hug my little sister and look into the eyes of the woman she has become. For the first time in both our adult lives we got to hang out and finally get to know the people we had grown into. I finally met and got to know several of my nieces and nephew. The entire experience was truly amazing and it is one I know we all will cherish. And with my sister’s help I was finally able to begin to deal with the deep emotional guilt I struggle with as a result of not being there to offer comfort to our parents in their last days. It was this visit with my sister that made me realize that I actually could have a shot at a real life down in Georgia with her, far away from Indianapolis w
here all I have known since the age of 14 is hardship and incarceration. While in Georgia I not only avoided committing any crime and coming into contact with law enforcement but I accepted an apprenticeship with a local master barber who began to teach me a real marketable trade that will always allow me to provide for myself and potential family. This is what I need the board to understand what I was doing in Georgia. I was not running from you. I was simply putting the piece of my life back together.
While out on parole before I was picked up and sent to the VOA I need the board to understand the work I was doing out in my community to make it a better place. 1.) The FOCUS Initiative is a non-profit that I helped create while I was still incarcerated. While I was out, we were successful in bringing together a group of investors who helped us purchase a property in Indianapolis that we are going to use as a transitional housing facility for those being released from prison who are willing to work to help rebuild our communities. 2.) Precious Seeds is another project within the FOCUS Initiative that focuses on bringing together inner city youth with local farmers willing to educate them on the process of growing produce so we can begin to establish community gardens throughout the inner city. 3.) Gifts Through the Bars is something else I have been a part of since before my release from prison. Last year we provided laptops and tablets for children of incarcerated people in an effort to bridge the tech gap that affects my community. Those are just three of the well-established programs that I am a part of but I have also spoken with college professors at IU and University of Indianapolis on the issue of reentry, and at AA meetings in Bloomington. In sharing my story of the struggles with addiction. This is the type of work that I do not only like to be doing but need to be doing because it is who I truly am. And I am grateful that I am here finally able to work out this parole violation situation because once it is all behind me I can once again return back to doing these things. Some of the people who are involved in these projects with me have submitted affidavits in support of my claims.
In closing I just want the board to know that I understand now loud and clear that to have a chance at reclaiming my life I must first get through the parole process and that means complying with the conditions you impose and simply request that my parole be transferred to Bloomington, IN where I have stronger support and opportunity to secure housing and employment. Once again thank you for your time and I look forward to your decision.
Angaza at home in Indianapolis with his family during summer 2020