This fall, Peoria resident Jason Spyres
starts classes at Stanford University in California on a full-ride
engineering scholarship. That fact alone shows he’s one of Illinois’
brightest and hardest working.
In admitting Spyres, Stanford
acknowledged those virtues. But as he pursues his studies in California
this year, he’ll be patiently waiting for the same recognition from
Illinois.
This August, before leaving for school,
Spyres applied for a gubernatorial pardon for decades-old mistakes the
state of Illinois has yet to let go.
He’s not a typical incoming freshman to
a university. He is 36 years old.
When he was 19 years old, he was
arrested for selling cannabis, and until recently, the state of
Illinois had kept him out of society for it. He served 15 years of a
30-year prison sentence at the Taylorville Correctional Center and was
slapped with more than $260,000 in fines. Now, with a record of model
behavior and backing from law enforcement officials and a state
lawmaker, he is asking for forgiveness.
“If I could go back, I’d slap myself and
say ‘grow up,’” Spyres said. “But I can’t. All I can do is move
forward, and do the best I can to help others see the mistakes I made
before enduring the same consequences that I did.”
As part of his personal petition to Gov.
Bruce Rauner, state Rep. Allen Skillicorn, R-Crystal Lake, Peoria
County Sheriff Brian Asbell and Bartonville Police Chief Brian Fengel
all wrote letters to the governor recommending Spyres for a pardon.
Peoria businessman Sean Kenny, who employed Spyres at Goldie’s Pizza
& Slots in Peoria, and retired correctional officer George
Atterberry, who became acquainted with Spyres while he was
incarcerated, also petitioned the governor recommending his pardon.
“I have read [Jason’s] petition for a
pardon and relief from fines, and believe granting his request is in
the best interest of our state,” Skillicorn wrote in his letter. “He
served almost 15 years in prison and, by all appearances, has learned
his lesson. Moreover, he is civic-minded and is using his time and
resources to help others in his position come to the perspective he now
has.”
While Spyres’ personal growth and
success, as well as backing from elected and law enforcement officials,
should make his case a slam-dunk, Illinois’ outlook on criminal justice
provides no guarantees.
Illinois did not even afford Spyres the
same higher education opportunity Stanford gave him. If he were to go
to the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, he would need to be on
academic and disciplinary probation for his entire tenure.
“I got into U of I with an asterisk,”
Spyres said. “They said ‘you’re going to be on academic and
disciplinary probation from the first day until you graduate, and it
will never come off your record.’”
“I got out of prison and all of my counselors
told me, ‘Jason, you get out there and you make the life you told me
you were going to make. We’re so proud’ … So I get three years of
parole done in seven months, and I can finally say the number K99397
has no tie to me. It’s not on a piece of paper tied to who I am.”
“And U of I wants me to take that back …
And remind myself of it everyday.”
Spyres knows he made a mistake. In 2001,
his mother sent him 38 pounds of
cannabis from Red Bluff, California, to Spyres’ then-home in Decatur.
According to court documents, a Staples employee in Red Bluff became
suspicious of the package when Spyres’ mother dropped it off in poor
condition and had a nervous demeanor. The package was turned over to
law enforcement and shipped to the Decatur Police Department. An
undercover police officer posing as a UPS deliveryman then brought it
to Spyres’ home, began searching his home pursuant to a warrant and
found the UPS tracking number matching the package.
Spyres was sentenced to 30 years in prison,
and racked up fines nearly impossible to pay back. He makes no excuses
for his behavior, but hopes the state agrees that it’s time to turn the
page.
“I’m $268,000 in debt because I sold pot
when I was 19 and 20,” Spyres said. “You can say all day you know what
it’s like for somebody when they get out [of prison] and try to do the
right thing. Tell me you know what it’s like when you have debt
collectors calling you trying to take your paycheck, and it’s going to
take 18 years of every penny you earn after taxes to pay off your
fine.”
Spyres’ sentence and fine were as harsh
as they were due to Illinois’ “Class X” classification for large
possessions of cannabis. A Class X classification – which includes
possessing more than 5,000 grams of cannabis with intent to deliver –
is among the state’s most severe, short of first-degree murder. Class X
felonies carry a mandatory sentence of between six to 30 years in
prison, and those convicted are not eligible for probation.
In Illinois, nearly half of
offenders released from prison each year will return within three
years. But for an ex-offender who finds work within a year after
release from prison, there is just a 16 percent chance of recidivating,
according to a study by
the Safer Foundation.
Spyres fortunately found work at
Goldie’s Pizza & Slots, which helped him get on a positive track.
That’s not only a win for him. But an ex-offender finding work is a win
for all Illinoisans.
Each time an ex-offender reoffends and
ends up back behind bars, it costs the state approximately $151,662 on
average, according to a 2018 report by
the Illinois Sentencing Policy Advisory Council. Those costs add up in
arrests, trials, court proceedings, incarceration and supervision; as
well as costs for victims who have been deprived of property, incurred
medical expenses, lost wages, and endured pain and suffering; and
indirect costs in foregone economic activity.
The report estimates that if Illinois’
recidivism rate stays about the same over the next five years,
taxpayers will pay more than $13 billion in
the aforementioned costs. On the flip side, with a reduction in
recidivism of just 1 percent, Illinois would save $90.1 million in
prison, court and policing costs over nine years. If the recidivism
rate fell by 5 percent, these savings would jump to nearly $450.7
million over nine years, along with $75.5 million in avoided economic
losses and $224.1 million in victimization costs not incurred.
Lawmakers have made some progress: In
2016, Rauner signed into law a
bill that removed barriers for ex-offenders in the fields of barbering,
cosmetology, esthetics, hair braiding, nail services, roofing and
funeral service, unless the crime is directly related to the
occupation.
Also in 2016, Rauner signed into law a
bill that decriminalized small amounts of marijuana – up to 10 grams –
making it instead punishable by a fine of between $100 and $200. While
small, these reforms are steps forward for Illinois’ criminal justice
system.
Now, with the stroke of a pen, Rauner
could make a decision that would directly improve the life of an
Illinoisan who already paid his debt to society. Jason Spyres is a
model citizen and an inspirational success story. In the future, he could
be a permanent Illinoisan once again – something he hopes for after
Stanford – and granting forgiveness would be an ideal way to welcome
him back.
“Illinois is my home state,” Spyres
said. “I have to know that I made this place better. The only thing I have
to point to my actions in Illinois is that I went to prison. I kind of
wanted to go to U of I to say that I went to Illinois’ flagship campus
and I made something of myself.”
“I’m really just trying to fix the
system, and that’s why I want to come back.”
With the humility of having gone through
the system, and a track record of overcoming past setbacks, the state
might benefit from more Illinoisans like Spyres.
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