LOUISVILLE, Ky. — It’s been two months since former Governor Matt Bevin issued pardons and commutations for more than 600 Kentucky convicts. More than half of those releases were granted to low level drug offenders.
Former prosecutor Leland Hulbert describes many of those offenders as people who, “have been caught, failed, failed again and then imprisoned- they need more help than anyone."
The Department of Corrections provided the list of names, at the request of Bevin. According to the executive order, the people chosen were screened for several “risk factors” including pending detainers or felony charges, recent violations of community supervision, prior escapes and a history of violent behavior. That screening process produced a list of 336 drug offenders, of which only 27 had completed a drug treatment program while behind bars, according to the Kentucky Department of Corrections.
But when their sentences were cut short, any resources typically granted were ripped away.
Commonwealth’s Attorney Tom Wine said, "I'm trying not to make this a personal attack but there's a system in place and I think by not following the system you set people up for failure." Wine said he knew some of the people granted releases needed help once on the outside, but his office could not offer any.
"It really puts you in a bad position because if I reach out to somebody who's been pardoned it’s as if I'm tracking them and they're saying you're violating my rights,” Wine explained.
Wine’s concerns of unintended consequences became a reality on December 27, 2019 inside room 243 room, at a hotel on Hurstbourne Parkway. Katherine Spencer called hotel staff for help after she said her boyfriend, Bryan Bishop, overdosed on heroin.
"Bryan and Katherine presented as people who at one point had had a good life but had fallen down the beaten path of drugs and their lives had completely changed,” Leland Hulbert, Spencer’s former attorney, said.
The couple had a history of drug abuse including multiple arrests and attempts to get treatment. Hulbert explained, "they fell into a system where the only help you're going to get is behind bars."
Both were sentenced to prison time in 2019. But in December of last year, Bishop was up for early release.
"The judge was holding up granting shock probation because we were putting the final pieces in place,” Wine said. The judge, prosecutor and attorney had a plan that would help him succeed- including treatment and supervision.
McAlister: "Why is that so important? To have those resources in place as soon as they walk out the door?"
Wine: "Because we know that as soon as they walk out the door, the first thing they're hit with is the temptation to go back and use again."
But before that plan was complete, Bevin commuted Bishop and Spencer's sentences and they were both released without safeguards. Days after that release, Bishop overdosed on heroin and was dead.
"I don't think Mister Bishop is going to be the first and only,” Wine said, “I think we'll see that happen with other people."
Many of the 336 low-level drug offenders released have been hard to find. The Kentucky Department of Corrections said they do not have addresses for those released. Local prosecutors and probation, parole officers aren’t legally supposed to have contact with them.
"You really do a disservice to everybody. You do a disservice to the people in the community where they are released because of the danger to the community. You do a disservice to the individual who needs the treatment. You do a disservice to the entire that thought through the process and came up with treatment plans that they will never allowed to implement,” Wine said.
Dakota Dawson, 22, was also released in December with a commutation from Bevin.
McAlister: "You wish you would've stayed in prison?"
Dawson: "Yeah honestly. I know it sounds stupid, but I would it would've happened later and not when it did."
Dawson was staying in a motel, recovering from a weekend DUI crash, when we met him. He was covered in scratches and using crutches, unable to walk because of a broken femur.
"They said that I flipped the car three times, slammed into a fence, took the whole fence out, and wrapped the car around a tree,” Dawson said.
Dawson said he tested positive for marijuana at the hospital after the crash, but according to the police report, he told officers he used meth. He was charged with driving under the influence.
"It definitely opened my eyes. It hurts talking about it, but it definitely changed my life,” Dawson said.
He said he is grateful for the release but isn’t sure it was best for him.
McAlister: "So to you this doesn't really feel like a good thing?"
Dawson: "I mean it does, but it doesn’t. At the same time. Honestly it doesn’t."
The young adult is also confused. Dawson believes he received a pardon, meaning complete forgiveness. But according to the Kentucky Department of Corrections, and the Secretary of State, Dawson received a commutation, meaning if he's convicted of another felony, he'll have to serve out the rest of his time.
"Well I know that I was told that I got pardoned and I don’t know. I was lied to I guess. I don’t want to talk about it anymore”, Dawson said.
Dawson believes he was told wrong information about his release. He also said he did not receive the resources the Kentucky Department of Corrections said they provided.
The Kentucky Department of Corrections said every inmate released was "provided with information listing reentry resources, names and numbers for social service clinicians in their home area, numbers for other addiction services, shelter and clothing resources, and mental health support."
But who gave it to them? And when?
Two different county jails said they received no instruction on what to give those released from their facility. When we tried to clarify with the Kentucky Department of Corrections, a spokeswoman said, "the resource materials were composed by staff in [the Kentucky Department of Corrections] Division of Reentry Services and were presented to the offenders by the same staff I mentioned above."
But we have not been able to confirm that any jail staff received instruction or inmates received any resources. Meaning, hundreds of low-level drug offenders, deemed vulnerable by those who worked with them, were released without any help.
"If it all works out great- that’s wonderful- the reality is, it’s not going to,” Wine said.
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