Free Jerod Fraierson!
Donation protected
Jerod is an African American man incarcerated in the State of Virginia, serving a 30-year prison sentence for a non-violent crime after being found guilty by an all-white jury. We're creating a legal fund to aid in Jerod's fight for freedom -- he would like to file a motion for resentencing. Please donate today to help defray legal costs for what is sure to be a difficult fight for justice ahead, and read Jerod's story below.
The Untold Story of Jerod Fraierson
"Black men born in the U.S. and fortunate enough to live past the age of eighteen are conditioned to accept the inevitability of prison. For most of us, it simply looms as the next phase in a sequence of humiliations. Being born a slave in a captive society and never experiencing any objective basis for expectation had the effect of preparing me for the progressively traumatic misfortunes that lead so many black men to the prison gate. I was prepared for prison. It required only minor psychic adjustments." - George Jackson
So, you ask who Jerod Fraierson is. I am an African American man incarcerated in the State of Virginia, serving a 30-year prison sentence for a non-violent crime. Given such a lengthily imposed draconian sentence, one would assume that I was convicted of a heinous violent crime of some sort,. However, this is not the case.
I was born in Richmond, Virginia but was arrested in New Kent County for possession of 1.77 grams of crack cocaine (less than one hundred dollars street value.) At the trial proceedings, I was found guilty by an all-white jury. One juror, a retired state trooper, came up with a 30-year sentence; the prosecution recommended a ten-year sentence. Ultimately the decision was up to the presiding judge, Judge Thomas B. Hoover, who rendered a 30-year prison term. As if that weren't enough, he mockingly suggested that I appeal.
Prior to this, my only bad decision was allowing a person I thought was my friend to borrow my car. He sold the drugs to an informant. In exchange for his testimony against me, he would be charged only for driving on a suspended license. I was never caught in person or no video with drugs, but the jury still found me guilty. I never took a plea because I knew I was innocent, and my lawyer assured me I would not have to do any time. I still find it inconceivable, mind-boggling, that my life would be so nonchalantly discarded, condemned to decades in prison over a nonviolent crime.
During sentencing, the presiding judge issued lighter sentences to other people also charged with felony distribution. For example, one man was convicted of five counts of felony drug distribution -- Judge Hoover gave him one year and six months in prison and work release. The difference between that man and I? The color of our skin. That's the disparity factor in how justice is administered.
A letter dated May 17, 1993, the Judicial Sentencing Guidelines Committee provided a historical framework for appropriate sentencing0 and stated verbatim, “The single purpose of Virginia’s sentencing guidelines is the establishment of rational and consistent sentencing standards which reduce unwarranted sentencing disparity." Clearly that’s not what happened in my case. My sentencing guidelines recommended an active sentence of five years and nine months on the low end, and nine years and five months on the high end. The Commonwealth prosecutor recommended a ten year sentence (on the high end of the sentencing guidelines), but Judge Hoover sentenced me to an astounding thirty year prison sentence, three times harsher than what the sentencing guidelines and the prosecutor recommended.
I have been in prison since May 27, 2009. The system I am in is still treating me unjustly; recently I was transferred to a maximum-security prison due to retaliation -- in hopes that someone would hurt me, between the guards and inmates. The men at this prison (Red Onion) have life terms with nothing to lose, and the guards treat the black males worse than you could imagine. I have managed to stay out of trouble during my prison sentence and managed to get my GED.
My sons were one and two at the time of my sentencing. I have missed out on such much of their lives. My mom passed away due to Covid-19 this past year; I will never get the chance to spend time with my mother or for her to see me a free man, something she wanted more than anything. My wife, along with close family members, have been working endlessly to bring awareness to my case and help get me out of prison. When the judge sentenced me to all this time, he not only ruined my life, but my family's as well. If I had been of any other race, I would have been a free man years ago. I deserve a chance at the life I do have left to be a free man.
This is my story and experience with the criminal injustice system. African American lives are deemed as disposable and stored in human warehouses, also known as prisons. If black lives matter, those discarded and condemned to decades in prison should also be included in this nationwide discussion.
Jerod Fraierson
1119041 VDOC
The Untold Story of Jerod Fraierson
"Black men born in the U.S. and fortunate enough to live past the age of eighteen are conditioned to accept the inevitability of prison. For most of us, it simply looms as the next phase in a sequence of humiliations. Being born a slave in a captive society and never experiencing any objective basis for expectation had the effect of preparing me for the progressively traumatic misfortunes that lead so many black men to the prison gate. I was prepared for prison. It required only minor psychic adjustments." - George Jackson
So, you ask who Jerod Fraierson is. I am an African American man incarcerated in the State of Virginia, serving a 30-year prison sentence for a non-violent crime. Given such a lengthily imposed draconian sentence, one would assume that I was convicted of a heinous violent crime of some sort,. However, this is not the case.
I was born in Richmond, Virginia but was arrested in New Kent County for possession of 1.77 grams of crack cocaine (less than one hundred dollars street value.) At the trial proceedings, I was found guilty by an all-white jury. One juror, a retired state trooper, came up with a 30-year sentence; the prosecution recommended a ten-year sentence. Ultimately the decision was up to the presiding judge, Judge Thomas B. Hoover, who rendered a 30-year prison term. As if that weren't enough, he mockingly suggested that I appeal.
Prior to this, my only bad decision was allowing a person I thought was my friend to borrow my car. He sold the drugs to an informant. In exchange for his testimony against me, he would be charged only for driving on a suspended license. I was never caught in person or no video with drugs, but the jury still found me guilty. I never took a plea because I knew I was innocent, and my lawyer assured me I would not have to do any time. I still find it inconceivable, mind-boggling, that my life would be so nonchalantly discarded, condemned to decades in prison over a nonviolent crime.
During sentencing, the presiding judge issued lighter sentences to other people also charged with felony distribution. For example, one man was convicted of five counts of felony drug distribution -- Judge Hoover gave him one year and six months in prison and work release. The difference between that man and I? The color of our skin. That's the disparity factor in how justice is administered.
A letter dated May 17, 1993, the Judicial Sentencing Guidelines Committee provided a historical framework for appropriate sentencing0 and stated verbatim, “The single purpose of Virginia’s sentencing guidelines is the establishment of rational and consistent sentencing standards which reduce unwarranted sentencing disparity." Clearly that’s not what happened in my case. My sentencing guidelines recommended an active sentence of five years and nine months on the low end, and nine years and five months on the high end. The Commonwealth prosecutor recommended a ten year sentence (on the high end of the sentencing guidelines), but Judge Hoover sentenced me to an astounding thirty year prison sentence, three times harsher than what the sentencing guidelines and the prosecutor recommended.
I have been in prison since May 27, 2009. The system I am in is still treating me unjustly; recently I was transferred to a maximum-security prison due to retaliation -- in hopes that someone would hurt me, between the guards and inmates. The men at this prison (Red Onion) have life terms with nothing to lose, and the guards treat the black males worse than you could imagine. I have managed to stay out of trouble during my prison sentence and managed to get my GED.
My sons were one and two at the time of my sentencing. I have missed out on such much of their lives. My mom passed away due to Covid-19 this past year; I will never get the chance to spend time with my mother or for her to see me a free man, something she wanted more than anything. My wife, along with close family members, have been working endlessly to bring awareness to my case and help get me out of prison. When the judge sentenced me to all this time, he not only ruined my life, but my family's as well. If I had been of any other race, I would have been a free man years ago. I deserve a chance at the life I do have left to be a free man.
This is my story and experience with the criminal injustice system. African American lives are deemed as disposable and stored in human warehouses, also known as prisons. If black lives matter, those discarded and condemned to decades in prison should also be included in this nationwide discussion.
Jerod Fraierson
1119041 VDOC
Organizer
Emily Robinson
Organizer
Richmond, VA