My name is Jamel A. Smith Sr. I was born and somewhat raised in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to a good hardworking family. My family did the best they could with me, but I was attracted to the street life. You know the illusion of doing evil for good. My parents seen me starting to fall for the illusion in Philly, so they moved me to Orlando, Florida. I was a teenager that thought I knew everything. I always wanted to be successful but I wanted it the fast way.
I started a family of my own when I was 18 years old. I had Jamel Jr. my first-born son, then came Kadijah my daughter and Mario my second son. Life was good but moving so fast at the same time. I tried working but I felt like working for someone wasn’t for me. Long story short I picked up the gun and started to become the modern-day Robin Hood so I imagined. When I turned 26 years old, I robbed a gas station that cashed payroll checks. Needless to say, I was arrested in 2009 and I haven’t seen the streets since. I was sentenced to 25 years in the Florida Department of Corrections. That’s when the veil fell off my eyes so to speak. I had messed up my whole life and not only that, I left my children out there without a father. I prayed God would give me another chance through the appeal process and 7 years later I got his answer which was denied. I was angry but God kept putting good people in my life most of them having a natural life sentence which made my 25 years look like a few months.
In 2017 my mother passed from cancer. Then 6 months later the mother of my children was murdered. I could have just given up on life and God, but a visit from my children who were teenagers at the time let me know I couldn’t do that. Even though I am incarcerated I am the only parent they have left. I didn’t want to be a hypocrite by telling them to stay in school and I couldn’t even produce a GED, so I obtained my GED and started to educate myself and I became business minded. I’ve written 2 urban books that are unpublished, and I’ve been taking countless programs. But it wasn’t until I really started to get myself together spiritually that I really seen the hand of God.
In 2018 he sent me the love of my life, my best friend and now my fiancé, LaQueeta Robinson. Not only that, he has given me another daughter and son, Faith & Joshua. So now I am only 5 years away from being released and I can’t wait to become a successful member of society. I have hope now through Prison Professor’s. I’m planning for success upon my release. I thank my entire family for the love and support they are giving me. Now I am 43 years old trying to help the youth from making similar mistakes that I made, and my walk in prison I am giving hope to other inmates that you can change for the better. There is much more to my story that will one day be told. Until then, just know I am striving day by day to work towards success upon release.
1/13/2025.
