Diane’s Story: I Moved 180 Degrees on Compassion
Diane has been a part of the FAMMily for years now. She is a tireless advocate for her husband, and she is a source of...
Compassionate Release Clearinghouse: Damiene Lewis
On April 24, 2020, Damiene Lewis was granted compassionate release and sent home. “That’s a huge blessing,” he says now, from his mother’s home in...
Jomari DeLeon: Pressured Into a Terrible Decision
Jomari DeLeon made two drug sales over 24 hours, making less than $200. Kingpin? Hardly. Yet this first-time offender was sentenced to 15 years. Even...
Chris Young: “Barely on the Totem Pole” and Life in Prison
The judge at Chris Young’s trial described his life sentence as “way out of whack.” The absurdity of his punishment is matched, though, by the...
Matthew Charles: Saved by the First Step Act
Matthew Charles’ life has seen some extraordinary turns recently. After spending 21 years in prison on a 35-year sentence, he was released in 2016. He walked out of prison with nothing, but soon created a full life for himself. It...Read More
Charceil Kellam
When Charceil Kellam was arrested in September of 2006, her family assumed that she wouldn’t spend much time in prison. She had a history of arrests, related to her decades-long addiction issues, but even when convicted, she never spent a...Read More
Success on the Inside: Chad Marks
At age 24, Chad Marks was sentenced to a 40-year federal mandatory minimum sentence. The prosecution offered him a plea deal that could have resulted in a 10-year term if Chad would admit his guilt. Instead, he went to trial,...Read More
Ashley Renee Keeton
In 2011, three days before Christmas, 23 year-old Ashley Renee Keeton was worrying about being able to put toys under the tree for her four young children. Wanting to make some quick cash to buy gifts, she decided to take...Read More
Success on the Inside: Jorge Maldonado
I still think about wrestling. I watch it here in prison every Monday and Tuesday. I wrestled for over 25 years, in many countries. You can see my videos on YouTube – just search “Rico Casanova Lucha.” I want to...Read More
Ainsley’s Story: The Value of Speaking Up
UPDATE: Ainsley’s husband Jeff was released to a halfway house on February 26, 2019. “I’m never getting married again,” I told my lawyer as we walked out of the county courthouse. I was feeling free and at the end of...Read More
Paul Houser: A Sentence That’s “Just Not Right”
“Those people don’t want to hear about a poor country boy’s sad story.” — Paul Houser Paul Houser’s story is sad, but it is well worth hearing. He’s now 11 years into a 60-year sentence for drug crimes. How he...Read More
Connie Farris: Watching Her Husband Die Slowly From Behind Bars
Theirs is a tragic love story for the ages. She’s in prison, and he continues to deteriorate more each day from muscular dystrophy, at this point unable to care for himself. And the BOP wants to keep them apart—even though...Read More
Debra Cupp: Why I Tell My Story
When Debra’s husband Ron died in prison, she was devastated. But then she started telling his story. She’s still in grief, but she’s channeled some of that feeling into action and advocacy.Read More