Dexter Eugene Jackson understood he had a “one in a million” chance of getting pardoned by US President Barack Obama for his marijuana conviction in 2002. His dreams came true three days ago.
Dexter was on its his way to work this morning in the us as well state of Georgia on a typical Tuesday morning when he got a phone call.
On the other end of the line, a lady was congratulating him. Dexter assumed it was a spam call.
That is, until the lady, a reporter from the local CBS television station, disclosed the basis for the call: again the 52-year-old was one of three Americans pardoned by new president Joe Biden for his crimes.
“It was insane.” “I had to come to a complete stop and take a big breath.”
When he returned home to notify his wife Tamika, she checked the White House website, and there was Dexter’s name, one of about three pardons granted by the state during Joe Biden’s administration.
Soon after, a White House staff member contacted him to confirm that he had received a special pardon document in the mail.
Pardons are not an admission of guilt. However, expunging a criminal record has practical advantages, such as restoring voting rights in certain places, as well as decreasing stigma and raising morale.
“I’ve been given a new life,” Dexter adds. “I’d want to express my gratitude to Vice President Biden and the Department of Justice.”
a thin grey line for presentation
Dexter was convicted of cannabis distribution in a federal courthouse in Georgia in 2002.
Despite not participating in drug trafficking, prosecutors claim he allowed traffickers to do business at the pool hall he owned and controlled at the time.
“My role in the entire affair was making the wrong friends and turning a blind eye to things,” he claims.
“My mum has always said you’re it only as good as the company you maintain,” he admits, adding, “You’re only as good here as the company you actually keep.”
Dexter was given a four-month prison term, followed by a year of probation.
He was imprisoned in South Carolina, where he says the majority of his fellow detainees were “criminal defense attorneys and other higher community members” rather than “what you see on TV.”
For a while, he felt humiliation, but then he started to focus on how he had been erred and how he might improve, sometimes in dialogue with other inmates.
He remembers one of them telling him that the greatest thing he could do was live life one day at a time since he was serving a far lengthier term.
Since his release, the father of two has “struck the ground running” one day at a time. Dexter changed his billiards hall in into Jack of bad trades, a phone repair shop in Union Point, after learning how to mend smartphones and tablets via internet tutorials.
through a whole work experience program for young people, he employed local high school kids to assist him. He claims to have kept in contact with every single modern one of them, and that they are all doing well.
He got his real estate license five years ago and started realizing a lifelong dream of his father Perry, who used to construct and restore homes in the region.
He enjoys assisting first-time homebuyers, and his efforts are critical since, as the White House emphasized on Tuesday, good quality affordable housing in Athens is in limited supply.
During the Obama administration, Dexter initially requested mercy via his lawyer, Bruce Morris. President Biden, who acts on official advice, has now granted his desire.
