Last September, I wrote a letter to a man named Roberto Cruz, whose case I had come across while researching Alabama’s harsh habitual offender law.
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Dear ,

Last September, I wrote a letter to a man named Roberto Cruz, whose case I had come across while researching Alabama’s harsh habitual offender law. Roberto was 16 years into a life-without-parole sentence for a marijuana trafficking conviction – a particularly extreme example of the costs of Alabama’s senseless and draconian war on marijuana <[link removed]>.

“While I can’t promise or guarantee sharing [your story] would result in any changes in your case, I can potentially allow you to have a space to tell your own story and amplify your experience,” I wrote.

I never could have predicted how this story would end.

On May 7 – months after I first contacted Roberto and weeks after I began to investigate his case more earnestly, spurred by the COVID-19 pandemic – a judge resentenced Roberto to time served. He is now a free man, reunited with his family in Georgia.

I cannot take credit for Roberto’s release. It was the Jefferson County Public Defender’s Office that filed the petition that led to his resentencing. And of course, Roberto himself has been attempting to secure post-conviction relief since 2007.

But until now, none of Roberto’s attempts had been successful, and if my SPLC colleagues and I hadn’t been looking into his case, I’m not sure that would have changed. That’s both inspiring – as a reporter, you always want your work to have an impact – and alarming. How many more Robertos are out there?

The details of Roberto’s case <[link removed]> – which I learned slowly, with the help of SPLC staff serving as translators in the months after I contacted him – are disturbing. A mere passenger in a car containing 25 pounds of marijuana that was pulled over near Birmingham in 2003, Roberto was condemned to life behind bars thanks to Alabama’s habitual offender law. With two prior federal charges – conspiracy to distribute in 1985 and possession of cocaine in 1994 – the new charge was enough to deprive him of any possibility of parole.

My commitment to investigating Roberto’s story took on a new urgency in March, as the COVID-19 pandemic began to pose a serious threat to people in prison – especially those, like Roberto, over 50 years of age (Roberto is 71). I learned that a previous motion for post-conviction relief from Roberto was denied in 2013, and I contacted the judge responsible.

Within 30 minutes, I got a call from Adam Danneman at the Jefferson County Public Defender’s Office. He had been appointed to represent Roberto in a new proceeding, and he asked for my help contacting Roberto’s family.

That was at the end of April. On May 7, a judge granted the petition to resentence Roberto to time served. About a week later, after 16 years behind bars, he was free.

Roberto’s full story – from arrest to conviction to surprising release – has too many astonishing details to share here. I encourage you to read (and share) our investigation <[link removed]> into Roberto’s case and learn more about the Alabama laws that condemn people like him to such disproportionate sentences.

Roberto is free, but thousands of others are still condemned to prison on grossly inflated sentences. My colleagues and I will continue to work to share their stories. It’s my hope that Roberto’s case will not prove to be an exception.

In solidarity,

Kathryn Casteel
Investigative Reporter
Southern Poverty Law Center











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