My name is Celeste Blair and I was given 30 years for a non-violent drug crime just ten years ago.
In entered federal prison with the mindset of change, on a mission to reform myself and become the best version of me.
I believe my testimony is one of success as I earned my freedom and moved my outdate from 2041 to 2025.
There are were so many contributing factors to my personal success story but at the core of it all is the way in which we relate to one another, especially the staff members here in federal prison.
I have tried, even on my worst day to be respectful and courteous to staff and as a result, I was able to build the Peer Success Program, hold a position that I loved as head of landscape, and most importantly, when I needed them to go the extra mile for me, unit team didn’t hesitate to see me through.
I believe in divinity, and as it were, the most amazing Unit Manager came into position here in B Unit just when I needed her; Ms.. Lockhart is someone who would best be described as ” no-nonsense “. She follows policy to a tee, and it’s not ever about inmate vs. staff, it’s about right and wrong according to policy.
When the former president granted clemency for a vast amount of prisoners, the system was a bit overwhelmed. I believe this to be expected, especially in a beauracracy.
On my end, I stood so firm in the space of gratitude, having had my sentence reduced from 30 years to 15 years was so huge and beautiful, a bit surreal.
But there was this other thing going on and I had to find a way to tow the line between gratitude for the moment and fighting for the full benefits of what I had earned; 751 FSA days and 365 SCA days.
Naturally, my sentence recalculation was entered into an already overwhelmed data bank ( the Grand Prairie office where sentence calculations are designated ) and the timeframe to honor my additional reduction of days was already in effect.
This, and perhaps a case manager who was in transition, resulted in a halfway house date for next year, which didn’t grant days for FSA and SCA.
When I approached my unit manager, Ms.. Lockhart, with the issue, her reaction can best be framed in the way of the 8 Attitudes learned in RDAP; she was open-mined to my plea. She was honest, willing, caring and recognized her responsibility in the situation, she took the time to sort it out. When she looked at the dates and the details she made no false promises she simply told me that she wanted me to get as many of my FSA and SCA days as possible.
Later, she came to me and asked me to demonstrate that I didn’t need a halfway house, and I immediately did so.
The most beautiful part is that right about this time, a new case manager came along, Mr.. Edgeworth. Now I say new but what I meant was that he was new to B Unit. I had greeted this gentleman for many years, every day as he walked past the garden each morning on his way to C Unit. He has a reputation for doing his job well. He took the time to interview me about my case, my journey here, the reduction of sentence I had received and my plans for the future.
Between the two of these individuals, I had the best experience imaginable with unit team here at Aliceville.
And sure enough, I am leaving on the 30th of July, having earned my freedom 16 years before the date on my original team work.
