I am deeply ashamed to write this document. My grandmother did not raise me to be a man that would be disrespectful and disobedient to the laws of the land and life. This is something that I learned being in the streets while she worked hard to feed ,clothed and housed me.
I know that my unit team will have a pre-sentence investigation report and other documents that will describe my crime but, I would provide to you some insight on who I am..
I grew up a few places . I was born in Birmingham,Al and shortly afterwards my mother moved to Miami, Florida and moved to Philadelphia where I stayed with my uncle. My mother remarried and moved to Orange, New Jersey. After my Grandfather by marriage retired from Chrysler in Detroit my grandmother moved back to B’ham and I am came to live with them. I was raised without the assistance of my mother and father. In reality my mother was just child herself. She had me at 15 years of age. Later on she had other children that she was attempting to raise at a young age without the skills and finances that were necessary to develop a healthy environment for children to flourish. I was eventually handed over to grandmother and raised by her the majority of my life until I began to venture out on my own.. The nurturing atmosphere of a family father and mother was non-existence in my youth and being uneducated led me to drop out of high school along with my misuse of drugs became a direct cause of my troublesome adolescent life.
During my years of elementary and high school I had not trouble with the law even though I was in that criminal lifestyle. My very first encounter with the law was receiving stolen property which the case was nolled process and thrown out I was 19. The second encounter which was attempt aggravated assault was thrown out for lack of evidence. I was 21.
Before ,I started to engage in criminal activity I was a fair student in high school. I was very interested in being a chef so I took Home economics where I was learning culinary arts. I could have received my diploma if I had just attended summer school. The only reason I didn’t graduate is because I had to many excessive absences. I had gotten a young lady pregnant so I started to work & sell drugs on the side. I had to take care of my responsibility for my the life that I had helped to create.
My grandmother wasn’t the smartest woman in the world but she gave me something that most young mothers and fathers didn’t and that was a genuine love . She used to always say”Smith be careful because they are going to put you somewhere I can’t come get you”. If she was alive to today I would say ?Granny it wasn’t them it was me”!I am ashamed because I failed her and my family!
