Nearly 10 Years in Prison for Howard U Grads!!

Lamont and Lawrence Garrison graduated from Howard University here in Washington DC, in May of 1998. The following October they expected to be entering the work force or applying for law school. Instead they entered separate federal prisons to begin serving mandatory minimum sentences for drug conspiracy convictions.

They vehemently denied any wrongdoing from the beginning. The Garrison twins say they were living at home with their single mother and elderly uncle in DC's Trinidad neighborhood, attending classes at Howard University and working part time jobs and internships.

But a convicted felon with a history of drug trafficking fingered Lamont and Lawrence Garrison as willing participants in his massive drug conspiracy. This, after the drug king pin was caught in an FBI undercover probe at his auto body shop in nearby Capitol Heights, Maryland. The drug dealer entered into a plea agreement with prosecutors that resulted in his prison time being greatly reduced in exchange for naming more than a dozen of his alleged co-conspirators. The Garrisons claim they were mere customers to the shop where their uncle's car was being repaired.

There were no drugs, cash, wiretaps or surveillance tape to tie the twins to the drug ring described in federal court in Alexandria, Virginia. Although others were clearly implicated. The jury heard from the drug dealer and Lamont Garrison, who against the advice of his attorney, took the stand to deny any culpability.

The judge had refused to sever the Garrison case from the other defendants. The jury convicted everybody, although one juror later told me by phone she didn't think the Garrisons were "major players", just in the wrong place too many times". Another said he had no idea they would get such lengthy sentences.

It's been nearly ten years and the Garrison twins are now 34 years old and still in prison. The judge had no discretion under the law even if he agreed with the college professors, relatives, neighbors and a respected retired DC Police detective who insisted the Garrison boys were innocent. Lawrence was sentenced to fifteen and a half years. Lamont got nineteen and a half years-the added time was for testifying in his own defense.

As opponents of mandatory minimum sentences and supporters of the Garrison twins recharge their efforts on Capitol hill to have the law revised, I thought some of you might want to revisit one of the special reports I did for Channel 9 on the Garrisons Twins. We traveled to the separate federal prisons to interview them.

Click here to watch PRISON NIGHTMARE.

I talked with Karen Garrison recently. She is still fighting to free her boys and others she feels are unfairly incarcerated for lengthy mandatory sentences for non violent and often first time offenses. Garrison works at FAMM Families Against Mandatory Minimum Sentences here in Washington, DC.
Garrison also provided the recent pictures of her sons. Lawrence has roughly five more years to serve at Elkton federal prison, in Lisbon Ohio. Lamont has about nine and a half years to go at the federal prison in Manchester, Kentucky.

Marion Barry Remains Free. Can we Move On?

I may be wrong but I am getting the sense that there are few people left who want to see Marion Barry carted off to jail or prison. The former street activist and big city mayor is now 70 plus years old and walking with a noticeable limp. He's survived cancer and struggles with diabetes. Time has a way of catching up with all of us and making even the once powerful and popular look fragile, smaller and possibly in more need of concern than incarceration.

Two judges recently decided after hearing the evidence that Prosecutors and US Park Police Officers were wrong; Barry wasn't drunk when stopped by police months ago. In a second incident the court ruled there wasn't convincing evidence that Barry intentionally filed his taxes late after agreeing to file on time following a plea bargain, to escape jail.

It's clear from his recent work on the DC Council, if Barry can just stay out of the courthouse and out of the streets, this over the hill champion of still many has a lot to offer. Personally, I was taken back by the fact that Councilman Barry, a former Mayor and School Board President was going to court, again on the very day that Mayor Adrian Fenty was taking over the city schools and naming a new school Chancellor. Please, enough! Can we all just move on!

I can't say how police and prosecutors feel about Barry. I'll guess here on this page that some feel he hasn't changed from the late night hard drinking, woman chasing, crack smoking politician of years past. Barry took the stand and told the court that he doesn't do drugs anymore; He added however that he does still have a drink or two! Go figure?

We also know that despite his terrible driving record Barry still insists on getting behind the wheel of his old Mercedes. He was once stopped by police for driving too slow!

It may be a stretch but I think DC voters might be willing to give the former Mayor an official city car and driver if they could be assured that he would use them for official city business only and not for surprise late night appearances that the former Mayor is still prone to make. This Mayor regardless of age and medical condition still likes to get out and about.

Emmy Award!

Here's a big thank you to the parents. students and faculty at Duke Ellington High for bringing concerns about the performing art school's run-down condition to my attention. Our subsequent exclusive reports showed a dance floor, showers, gym and classrooms that couldn't be used because of their dangerous state. School officials eventually responded with money for repairs.

We were honored by our peers with an Emmy.

DC History

Beginning next week I'm hoping to expand my blog to include many of the stories that I have covered over the years for Channel 9. The video and audio clips that you will find here should include TV reports on Marion Barry and every other major and minor political figure who made big news in the Nation's Capitol. There are thousands of human interest reports from the City's ever changing neighborhoods. Stories of heroes and villains; street cops and drug dealers; My archives include reports and interviews with famous artists including Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye, Sly Stone and the Temptations. We'll also try to include some of the clips from our award winning documentaries from other World Capitols, including Moscow, Paris, Tokyo, Stockholm and Dakar. Stay tuned.

More fallout on Fenty Appointment

DC Government sources tell me that several members of the DC Council are not yet ready to forgive Mayor Adrian Fenty for the way he fired school Superintendent Clifford Janey and selected his replacement Michelle Rhee last week.
One Council source says that Chairman Vincent Gray was so upset with the Mayor that he was threatening to hold up the confirmation hearing for Rhee. The move wouldn't affect her ability to run the schools; As acting Chancellor, pending Confirmation, she can run the school system and concentrate on the opening of classes in late August. That authority is good for six months. Holding up her confirmation would send a signal to Fenty that this Council is not to be taken for granted according to one source.

According to others in the know Fenty called Janey late Monday night of last week to inform him that he was out and Rhee was in... effective the following morning. The sources say Janey was told not to report to his office, that his government email and cell phone accounts had been closed. Said one Councilmember "This was no way to treat Janey. He may have been slow at making decisions but he was a good man with good credibility as a Superintendent". Janey has been unavailable since his firing. He reportedly has hired an attorney to deal with the Fenty administration regarding his severance and other legal matters.


Adding to the DC Council's anger is Fenty's decision to go to the Washington Post, first with the selection of Rhee, before informing the Council Chairman and a panel that included parents, as required by law. Stay tuned, the new Mayor has a lot of fence mending to do on this one...

Fenty and the Washington Post

DC Mayor Adrian Fenty created a firestorm this week among reporters who cover the DC Government when he delivered the scoop on his choice for Chancellor of schools to the Washington Post. Even Jonetta Rose Barras, who strongly endorsed his candidacy early on, was furious at how the Mayor locked out the rest of the media and top city officials from the big announcement.

It's not just that the Post was able to break the story, it's how the story came out that infuriated reporters like WTOP radio's steady Mark Seagraves. Here's what happened. The Post breaks the story Monday night for its Tuesday morning edition. No need to attribute the scoop to sources because the news article is complete with quotes from the Mayor himself and the new Chancellor of schools, Michelle Rhee. The Fenty administration had given the newspaper such advance notice of the announcement that the Post Editorial staff had ample time to write an opinion for Tuesday's newspaper, even before the announcement was made from the steps of the Wilson building. If you saw the subsequent news conference "live on Nine News Now", you must have heard Rose-Barras off to the side, screaming questions to the Mayor and undressing him about the propriety or lack thereof on how the Post was hand-delivered the story. To his credit, Mayor Fenty accepted responsibility, right there on the spot.

According to Wilson building insiders not only was the Council Chairman Vincent Gray and all of his colleagues surprised by the Chancellor choice and announcement, Fenty's own press officers were left out of the loop until after the Post was brought in...as a result they were telling reporters late Tuesday that they had no word on anything when in all the words were already in the Post, including the Mayor's exclusive remarks on why he selected Rhee to replace Superintendent Clifford Janey.

It turned out to be an excellent scoop for one of the best newspapers in the world and certainly a story I or any other reporter would have run with; but Fenty is making up new rules...his own..for dealing with the media.Some of them serve us all very well..like his appearing on the scenes of every homicide and major fire..but it's how he's announcing the appointment of new cabinet members...through the Washington Post that's keeping most other reporters and even more Council members and Community leaders at odds with the new young Mayor.