A Highly Paid Parole Board That Rarely Paroles

Charles Zellers, who has been incarcerated since he was
in his twenties, has like many others done everything 
humanly possible to earn their release, but to no avail.

Of the over 2000 parole eligible prisoners in Virginia, the Virginia Parole Board released only two in January and four in February.  I received the following message Friday from my friend Charles, who has been denied parole eleven times, even though when he took an Alford Plea in 1993 he was assured he would obtain an early release if he did well while incarcerated. 

I have been corresponding with him for over a decade, and he is now suffering from a severe case of Long Covid:

I have been incarcerated since January 25, 1993. I have earned my GED, successfully completed training for two vocational trades, and had been employed by Virginia Correctional Enterprises for 14 years until I got Covid. For ten of those years I was a lead man in charge of training and checking the work of other inmates in my department. 

I have been infraction free for decades, have successfully completed every self-help course available and have taken numerous college courses, earning a certificate in business through UVA and the Darden Business School. Now I am needing continuous oxygen and have been transferred to the Deerfield Correctional Center, a DOC facility that houses hundreds of prisoners with serious illnesses and disabilities.

I am wanting to complete my sentence as a parolee in my home community, where I can take care of my aging mother and give back to victims of crime and to the citizens where my crimes were committed.

I am seeking good people who believe in second chances to contact the Virginia Department of Corrections Director, Chadwick Dotson, and tell him that I have been parole eligible since July 30, 2005, but have been repeatedly denied release. 

Why hasn't the DOC prepared me and and others to qualify for release from prison prior to our parole eligibility date? Why aren't they working with me now, and preparing me and others like me to be deemed suitable for release? Why are so many parole eligible inmates still wasting taxpayers money sitting idly in prison?

Please ask DOC Director Dotson, state legislators and members of the Parole Board to advocate for whatever help is needed for people like me to be seen as "corrected" by the Department of Corrections and deserving of a well earned release from prison.

Thank you for your time and efforts, and for acting on your concerns.

Blessings,

Charles E. Zellers, Sr. 1036758
Deerfield Correctional Center

21360 Deerfield Drive

Capron, VA 23829

DOC Director chadwick.dotson@vadoc.virginia.gov 

Virginia Board of Parole https://vpb.virginia.gov/contact/

Governor Youngkin GGY74@Governor.Virginia.Gov 

P. S. Please share this with others.

Note: I posted this in November, 2015: https://harvyoder.blogspot.com/2015/11/model-prisoner-47-denied-parole-seven.html