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Antonio Zamarripa
#89223-132
Sentenced January 1996 for 10 years for conspiracy to possess and distribute methamphetamine and heroin I'm a federal prisoner being housed at the FCI Forrest City in Arkansas. I was sentenced to prison by the Honorable Jean C. Hamilton, for the Eastern District of Missouri, St. Louis on January 18, 1996. I was given the weight of the whole conspiracy which was 10 pounds; I was later sentenced for 1 pound for a reduction from15 years to 10 years with 5 years supervised release. Also, my offense was a non-violent one, plus my first drug conviction. At the time of my arrest/conviction, I was raising a newborn child; my wife left me with the boy to raise. I gave my son to my mother to raise, which she was more than happy to do. Now my mother has less than one year to live. She has lung cancer, with one lung already gone. I have written to the judge in my case seeking a temporary release. However, I have not been given a decision on this matter. I would like the judge to release me so I can help care for my mother and find a suitable home for my little boy. I am his sole provider and he needs me at this young age. He's almost 6 years old now. I'm not trying to make my case a complicated one. It shouldn't be construed that way at all. I only want to be there for my mother during her remaining days on this earth, take her place, and find my son a home. Once this is completed I will be happy to return to prison to finish out my sentence.
Note from Editor: Antonio's mother passed away on June 15, 2001. He is still pursuing early release so he can be home with his son. The following is Antonio's letter dated July 23, 2001.
I wish to thank the November Coalition for publishing my previous letter concerning my mother and son. My mother passed away on June 15, 2001 and now she is in heaven with her mother and family. My six-year-old son is without a mother and grandmother and I am still in prison. Please do what you can to help me get an early release so I can be with my son.
I was placed in the hole for protective custody on May 21, 2001 when my mother had just three weeks to live. I couldn't get a staff member from my unit, or a reverend to come to the hole to let me call my dying mother. I wanted to tell my mother how much I really loved her. It is very evil for BOP employees to promote disrespect towards an inmate's family. I'm not in the hole for any wrongdoing, or for breaking the rules and regulations of this institution. I'm in the hole pending a transfer and I'm treated worse than disciplinary inmates. I am locked in a cell 23 hours a day, 7 days a week without full commissary privileges -- I hardly have any privileges. I don't have a table or chair to eat my food on. I eat next to an open toilet that is nasty and foul; or on the floor like an animal! I wonder how much more pain and suffering must a man undergo before the public realizes that this is a hell hole!
If my situation is not cruel and unusual punishment, then those lawmakers up in Washington need to rewrite the Constitution. To hold a person in prolong confinement for non-disciplinary reasons is mistreatment and abuse and nothing less than psychological torture and a subterfuge of justice that is offensive to the dignity of humanity. Most politicians wonder why so many men and women return to prison. Hell, look at the way they are treated in prison. The Bureau of Prisons turns prisoners into angry habitual criminals animals that have animosity for the human race. Even though I am treated worse than men on death row who have TVs, tables and chairs. I will not allow the BOP to turn me against society.
Antonio Zamarripa 89223-132
FCI LA Tuna
PO Box 3000
Anthony, New Mexico 88021Next Prisoner of the War on Drugs
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