ALBANY — Stevie Robinson, a member of an Albany family that saw its bustling marijuana enterprise dismantled in a federal criminal case two decades ago, was released from parole supervision recently by a judge who noted Robinson was prosecuted for "a murder he didn't commit" and has been caught in a punitive vortex due to his repeated use of marijuana — a drug that was legalized this year in New York.
The unusual decision by U.S. District Senior Judge Lawrence E. Kahn — over the objection of federal prosecutors — underscores the fading consequences of marijuana use by individuals on probation or parole, which the judge noted had left Robinson “trapped in a cycle of supervised release and re-incarceration” since he left prison last year after serving 15 years for marijuana-related offenses.
The judge's decision also marks another milestone for a tight-knit family that emerged from the ashes of a sprawling criminal case that had snared four brothers — Stevie, Charles, Mark and Eddie — and sent three of them to federal prison for lengthy terms.
The case was the fallout of years of their having operated a marijuana business in Albany during the 1990s, when they had been arrested frequently but usually only on minor charges. That era also was a violent one for Albany as street gangs with New York City ties moved in and used gun violence to muscle their way into the local drug trade. That occasionally triggered conflicts with the Robinson brothers, who did not want drugs such as crack or heroin sold on the blocks where they peddled weed.
The federal criminal investigation of the family took the hardest toll on Stevie Robinson, now 55, who rejected a plea and went to trial after he was wrongly accused of murdering an 18-year-old man in a drive-by shooting. Although the jury convicted him of that homicide, the charge — causing the death of another in the course of using a firearm — was later thrown out. But it was still used as fodder by federal prosecutors when they requested that he be sentenced to a lengthy prison term related to his conviction on marijuana trafficking and gun charges.
Robinson's son, Albany Councilman Jahmel K. Robinson, said he is grateful that Kahn, who has been a federal judge since 1996, was still assigned to his father's case earlier this year when probation violations began stacking up against the elder Robinson, who admitted in January to three instances of marijuana use.
"I’m grateful that Judge Kahn made the decision that he made," Jahmel Robinson said. "I tell my father all the time that for him to still be on the bench almost 20 years later, to still preside over my father's court case, it’s a blessing. Judge Kahn knew what happened to my father was not right, and it was wrong on all fronts."
Indeed, Kahn, who ordered a new trial for Robinson on the homicide charge, has through the years repeatedly used his rulings to highlight the weak evidence that federal prosecutors had relied on to accuse Robinson of the murder — including the testimony of an informant who changed his story.
In his recent decision releasing Stevie Robinson from federal probation, Kahn footnoted a 2005 Times Union story that raised questions about whether another man had been responsible for the homicide. The judge also highlighted the inconsistencies of a federal probation system that punishes people for doing something that's now legal in many states.
Former Albany Common Council member Mark Robinson questions Albany Mayor Kathy Sheehan during her 2017 budget proposal presentation in October 2016 at City Hall in Albany, N.Y. (Will Waldron/Times Union archive)
Will Waldron
Mark Robinson, left, during his 2013 campaign for Common Council as a Democrat in the 5th Ward, joins Albany mayoral candidate Corey Ellis as he discusses his plans to provide tax incentives for homeowners to revitalize abandoned and vacant buildings and units throughout the city of Albany (Lori Van Buren / Times Union archive photo)
Lori Van Buren/Albany Times Union
Mark Robinson, then a city of Albany 5th Ward councilman, waits to watch his daughter Markiea Robinson graduate with a political science degree during the Hudson Valley Community College commencement at Joseph L. Bruno Stadium in May 2014. (Michael P. Farrell/Times Union archive photo)
Michael P. Farrell/Albany Times Union
Charles Robinson, who works as a carpenter in Albany, talks in February 2014 about problems he sees with new legislation during a discussion by Albany County lawmakers on legislation to create a land bank. (Paul Buckowski / Times Union archive photo)
Paul Buckowski/Albany Times Union
Albany Councilman Jahmel K. Robinson, 5th Ward, comments on the city's wave of shootings last year during a press conference at police headquarters in Albany. (Will Waldron/Times Union)
Will Waldron/Albany Times Union"The court is disinclined to compel Robinson to endure prolonged post-release supervision simply to ensure that he refrains from using a drug that his adult neighbors are permitted to use and commonly do," Kahn wrote in the 13-page decision. "And it certainly would not be in the interest of justice to return him to prison for using marijuana."
Robinson’s marijuana use, Kahn added, overshadows the fact that he has made significant strides in his life: Robinson avoided drugs and violence in prison and completed more than 1,500 hours in educational courses while incarcerated. He also been excelling in a new food-service job with the Altamont Program, which assists people who have been released from prison.
Robinson's turnaround, which the judge noted includes making a living legally and taking "steps toward building a better life for himself and his family," follows the path of his brothers Mark and Charles, who both served eight years in federal prison after pleading guilty to marijuana trafficking charges.
The judge also noted in his ruling that in 1984, federal parole — also referred to interchangeably as probation — was replaced with a system of "supervised release" that's overseen by the U.S. Probation Department. In passing the Sentencing Reform Act, Congress sought to ease a formerly incarcerated person's transition into their community rather trapping them in a system of "coercive rehabilitation" that often ended with them being re-sentenced to prison for minor violations.
Jahmel Robinson said the judge's decision to release his father from probation has enabled father and son to continue mending a relationship that crumbled in 2006 when Robinson was sentenced to 15 years in prison.
The younger Robinson subsequently overcame odds that often result in boys and teenagers falling into a life of crime after their fathers are incarcerated. Instead, he graduated from high school and college and went on to earn a master's degree. He works as a policy analyst for the state health department and in 2019 proffered legislation in Albany to reform the criminal justice system's handling of marijuana cases.
The nation's war on drugs "just tore families apart, including mine," Jahmel Robinson said. "The irony of the situation is that now families, predominantly white families, are in the marijuana business making millions of dollars while Black families are still struggling trying to put their pieces together."
Mark and Charles Robinson emerged from prison roughly a decade ago devoted to reforming their family's legacy. Both have been active in Albany's real estate market; Mark Robinson served on the city's Common Council from 2013 to 2017. (He was succeeded in the council seat by Jahmel Robinson, his nephew.)
Despite Stevie Robinson's release from federal probation, the penalties for marijuana use by individuals who are under federal supervision after release from prison remain in place. But New York and other states have adjusted rules for those who test positive for the drug while on parole or probation, and no longer criminalize it.
In late April, a few weeks after New York legalized marijuana use for adults, the state Department of Corrections and Community Supervision issued a directive declaring the agency would “not impose special conditions prohibiting parolees to use cannabis.” Only in rare cases, the directive said, can prohibition of marijuana be considered, and it must be “reasonably related to the underlying crime.”
At the county level, many of New York’s probation departments have also adjusted their rules, treating marijuana similarly to alcohol: Someone is prohibited from using the drug usually only if their offense involved substance abuse or the person has a history of addiction problems.
The U.S. attorney's office in Albany declined to appeal Kahn's ruling releasing Stevie Robinson from federal probation in "the interest of justice."
"I am very proud of my father," Jahmel Robinson said. "After doing 20 years in some of the harshest prisons around this country, he survived — and that’s not easy to do."
He added that "for so long society had taught me to hate my father for selling marijuana. ... I had to come to the realization as I got older that this was just the system of racism that existed in our country for years, decades. I cannot be mad at my father ... for trying to make a living."
blyons@timesunion.com
"cycle" - Google News
June 22, 2021 at 04:40AM
https://ift.tt/3d3mZGG
Judge lifts parole for Albany man 'trapped in a cycle' - Times Union
"cycle" - Google News
https://ift.tt/32MWqxP
https://ift.tt/3b0YXrX
Bagikan Berita Ini
0 Response to "Judge lifts parole for Albany man 'trapped in a cycle' - Times Union"
Post a Comment