Pubdate: Fri, 29 Jan 1999
Source: Associated Press
Copyright: 1999 Associated Press
Author: Alexandra R. Moses

WOMAN FREED UNDER RELAXED LIFER LAW

DETROIT (AP)   Finally free after 21 years in prison, a woman released
Friday under a law relaxing sentences for drug crimes spent the day
getting reacquainted with everyday life.

"The first thing I did was hug my niece and eat some ice cream,"
JeDonna Young said Friday. "I'm tripping out just answering the
telephone, making myself a sandwich, using the microwave."

Ms. Young, 44, left the Scott Regional Correctional Facility in
suburban Plymouth one week after the state parole board unanimously
agreed to release her.

She was driving with her boyfriend James Gulley in 1978 when Detroit
police stopped her car and found nearly 3 pounds of heroin. Gulley
said it was his;  Ms. Young said she didn't know it was there. Both
were convicted under a new,  unforgiving anti-drug law that mandated
life in prison. Gulley died in prison  in 1997.

The U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals reluctantly upheld Ms. Young's
conviction in 1989 but said it was unconvinced she was the kind of
drug dealer the law was  designed for. It suggested "the tiger trap
may have sprung upon a sick kitten."

Last year, the Legislature amended the lifer law to allow parole after
20 years, or as early as 15 years if the convict cooperated with
police and did not have prior felony convictions. The change took
effect Oct. 1.

Ms. Young said she doesn't harbor any resentment toward the system
that imprisoned her for two decades.

"I don't have time for that. I have to move on," she said. "It's not
going to be easy, but it's going to be OK."

Ms. Young said she plans to live with her mother in Detroit, perhaps
working at a law firm. She had worked as a paralegal in prison and
earned a college degree.

She also plans to make up lost time with her son, Deloneo   who was
just 7 years old when she went to prison.

"I'm going to take each day very, very slowly," she
said.
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