Every other week, I shop at the commissary store to pick-up hygienic essentials and some snacks. After purchasing some toothpaste this week, I looked at the expiration date and smiled. For the first time during my incarceration, I saw an expiration date that went beyond my prison sentence! When I first shopped in November of 2022, the toothpaste expiration was April of 2024, which seemed like an eternity at the time. I waited tube-by-tube until the date became 2025, then 2026, and NOW 2027! My mind danced with glee after seeing August 2027 on this tube. I was utterly surprised that a simple expiration date would elicit such internal excitement. While incarcerated, it’s the little things, like an expiration date, that amplify hope. Most days are boringly mundane and redundantly spent doing some trivial task, which are repeated throughout the week in efforts to break the criminal mindset. Inmate gossip helps to break this weekly cycle, but so too, does hopeful news. Each inmate seeks to understand if any substantial change in the Bureau of Prisons policy or some interpretation of a law may bring them a step closer to the exit door. For me, this expiration date served as a staunch reminder that my time in prison is nearing its end.
Over these past few years, I participated in prison programs to demonstrate my seriousness and commitment to eliminating any chance of recidivism, exacerbating remorse, and fully rehabilitate from any criminal deviation. Throughout these programming endeavors, I earned substantial time credits toward my release date of 2029 and credits toward my community time. Since the psychologist at FPC Texarkana determined that I will not have enough time to complete the intensive residential treatment for alcohol, I will not have the ability to participate in community programming. This significant decision makes me eligible to serve the rest of my sentence in home confinement. While my custody in the BOP will end in 2027, I have been recommended for home confinement in February of 2026 by applying all the credits that I have earned. This date is merely a recommendation and must go through several stages of approval, which could make the date sooner or later by a month or two. I would determine that 75% of the time the recommended date remains as is.
I must note that not all prisoners are entitled to these types of credits. I have earned a minimum custody level and am a nonviolent offender. In the hypothetical guilty scenario of sex trafficking in the case of Sean “Diddy” Combs, he would be ineligible from earning certain time credits, from being placed in a prison camp, or from having the opportunity to complete his sentence in home confinement. Not all federally incarcerated felons will have the ability to be in home confinement or even go to a halfway house. In fact, a vast majority of the incarcerated population will have to complete their full sentence behind bars or a razor-wired fence. I am truly blessed not to have endured this type of experience, even though I had briefly been exposed to it during my transfer in FTC Oklahoma City. I really appreciate you taking the time to check-in and share your continued support and encouragement for me over these past few years. I hope you and your loved ones have a great summer week full of laughter, memories, and joy. Please continue to be mindful of any little miracle in your life this week 🙂