They couldn't do it forever, because with the sentencing guidelines of the time I had a maximum release date of 30 years. In other words, if they hadn't paroled me and I had stayed in, I'd be getting out in 2014, four more years. But at my age, that's significant. I didn't have a life sentence. So I was looking at a release date, and it was a question of when it was going to be. Under the existing law at the time, I was actually eligible for parole after 10 years. I put 10 years in but I didn't go before the parole board. I didn't feel at the time that the political climate, and my situation of being in supermax, was conducive to getting a date. I waited another five years, until I had 15 in, which meant I was five years over the minimum eligibility date before I went for a parole hearing. They said, all right, give us five more without any problems and we'll let you out. Well, those potential problems were around me all the time. I'm in a maximum-security prison. It's like walking through a minefield every day. Anybody else's problems can become your problems. Anything can stick on you. You can get any type of bullshit disciplinary violations and there goes your parole date.
AS PART OF YOUR PAROLE, YOU WERE PRECLUDED FROM COMMUNICATING WITH ANY OF THE OTHER PEOPLE THAT WERE PART OF THE UNITED FREEDOM FRONT, CORRECT?
Right.
THIS INCLUDED YOUR EX-WIFE, WHO IS THE MOTHER OF YOUR DAUGHTERS.
So our daughters and our grandchildren could not be in the same room with us at the same time. Shortly after I got off parole we made arrangements to go down to New York, where my daughters and grandchildren are, and my ex-wife lives down there. The kids and all the grandchildren were able to see their grandparents at the same time, in the same house.
WHAT WAS THAT LIKE? YOU MUST HAVE HAD SO MANY TIMES WHERE YOU DIDN'T DARE THINK THAT WOULD EVER BE POSSIBLE.
It was pretty incredible. Our youngest granddaughter — I think we went down in April — and our youngest granddaughter had just been born in December. So it was a wonderful experience for all of us who were there. This is one of the problems that anyone in prison faces, whether they're a political prisoner or not, it can have a devastating effect on families. When you are under some kind of parole or probation or supervised release they can put these kinds of prohibitions or stipulations on your parole that can have a very negative impact on the family. But it was a wonderful experience.
DO YOU INTEND TO COMMUNICATE WITH ANY OF THE OTHER MEMBERS OF THE UNITED FREEDOM FRONT WHO ARE STILL IMPRISONED, NOW THAT YOU'RE FREE AND CLEAR?
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