{"id":146,"date":"2014-10-09T04:04:19","date_gmt":"2014-10-09T09:04:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.candoclemency.com\/?p=146"},"modified":"2022-08-19T16:05:06","modified_gmt":"2022-08-19T21:05:06","slug":"joshephine-ledezma","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sheryanne.com\/cando-new2\/joshephine-ledezma\/","title":{"rendered":"Josephine Ledezma &#8211; Life &#8211; CLEMENCY on 8\/5\/16"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Josie&#8217;s long journey of suffering finally come to an end. \u00a0She was told by her case manager that her sentence had been commuted by President Obama.<\/p>\n<p>Josephine was #3 on CAN-DO&#8217;s Top 25 Women Who Deserve Clemency. \u00a0 CAN-DO Founder Amy Povah served time with Josephine and never stopped advocating for her freedom. \u00a0Amy referenced Josie in an <a href=\"http:\/\/fusion.net\/story\/194984\/a-presidential-pardon-saved-my-life-heres-why-obama-should-pardon-hundreds-more-women\/\">Op Ed that was published in Fusion<\/a> as one of several women she hoped would get clemency from President Obama. \u00a0Jason Hernandez recently wrote an Op Ed, also published in Fusion, that spotlights Josie &#8211; and other Latinas &#8211; seeking clemency. \u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.candoclemency.com\/jason-hernandez-speaks-to-president-obama-in-dc\/\">Jason asks President Obama for more clemencies for Latinas at the White House in this video<\/a>\u00a0in November, 2015.<\/p>\n<p>Watch Josie&#8217;s daughter, Lizette Ledesma and her son Caesar talk about their mother&#8217;s clemency on Channel 7 news.<\/p>\n<div class=\"entry-content-asset videofit\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Josephine Ledezma receives clemency from President Obama\" width=\"720\" height=\"405\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/EK53eqtvt78?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft wp-image-148\" src=\"http:\/\/www.candoclemency.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/josephine_ledezma_cd_lg.jpg\" alt=\"josephine_ledezma_cd_lg\" width=\"345\" height=\"345\" srcset=\"https:\/\/sheryanne.com\/cando-new2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/josephine_ledezma_cd_lg.jpg 600w, https:\/\/sheryanne.com\/cando-new2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/josephine_ledezma_cd_lg-300x300.jpg 300w, https:\/\/sheryanne.com\/cando-new2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/josephine_ledezma_cd_lg-150x150.jpg 150w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 345px) 100vw, 345px\" \/>Josephine Ledezma 994938-012<br \/>\nAge:<\/strong> 58 yrs old<br \/>\n<strong>Children:<\/strong> 2 sons and 1 daughter &#8211; 9 grandchildren, 5 girls and 4 boys.<br \/>\n<strong>Race:<\/strong> Hispanic<br \/>\n<strong>Charge:<\/strong> Conspiracy to Transport Cocaine and Aiding and Abetting<br \/>\n<strong>Sentenced:<\/strong> 1992<br \/>\n<strong>Already served:<\/strong> 24 years<br \/>\n<strong>Sentence:<\/strong> LIFE<br \/>\n<strong>Release Date:<\/strong>\u00a0Death<br \/>\n<strong>Prison Conduct:<\/strong> Never received a single incident report in 24 years &#8211; exemplary conduct.<br \/>\n<strong>Priors:<\/strong>\u00a0First Time Offender<br \/>\n<strong>Accomplishments:<\/strong> Josie has participated and completed almost every course offered by the BOP.<br \/>\nUnicor Employee for over 20 years; volunteers at Chapel; <strong>Graduated 5400 hour training program for Dept. of Labor.<\/strong> \u00a0Her list of achievements is extremely long.<br \/>\n<strong>Clemency Petition:<\/strong>\u00a0Clemency petition will be filed in January of 2016.<br \/>\n<strong>Institution:<\/strong>\u00a0FCI Dublin, 5701 &#8211;\u00a08th St. \u00a0Camp Parks, Dublin, CA 94568<\/p>\n<p>Josephine (Josie) was a teacher\u2019s aide who married her high school sweetheart and had three children.\u00a0 She never used drugs, but she agreed to do a favor for a family member.\u00a0 Josephine&#8217;s brother asked Josie to give an envelope of money to someone who was going to drive cocaine from California to DC. \u00a0 She readily admits that she involved herself when agreed to participate, but she never dreamed that her involvement would result in a LIFE sentence. \u00a0 The person she gave the money to was involved in a drug deal with Josie&#8217;s brother who\u2019d agreed to drive an RV from California to Washington DC. \u00a0The person driving the RV was pulled over, arrested and agreed to &#8220;cooperate.&#8221; Josie, who had given him her business card and asked him to call her at certain check points, was ensnared by the conspiracy law that holds one person responsible for the actions of all co-conspirators. \u00a0Because Josie went to trial, she received enhancements for a leadership role, and other enhancements that have since been ruled unconstitutional \u00a0according to\u00a0United States v. Booker, 543 U.S. 220 (2005); \u00a0a United States Supreme Court decision concerning criminal sentencing. The Court ruled that the Sixth Amendment right to jury trial requires that, other than a prior conviction, only facts admitted by a defendant or proved beyond a reasonable doubt to a jury may be used to calculate a sentence exceeding the prescribed statutory maximum sentence, whether the defendant has pleaded guilty or been convicted at trial. The maximum sentence a judge may impose is a sentence based upon the facts admitted by the defendant or proved to a jury beyond a reasonable doubt.<\/p>\n<p>Josie never admitted to, nor did the government prove to the jury that Josie was a leader\/organizer and indeed, she was actually following the orders of her brother, who asked her to get involved. \u00a0Josie is not trying to deny that she was wrong. \u00a0She has expressed deep remorse and knows she never should have gotten involved in any drug deal or wrongdoing. \u00a0But a life sentence for a first offender who was a productive and law abiding citizen is excessive by any standard.<\/p>\n<p>Those who testified against Josie, who were far more culpable, are now free and received compensation for their cooperation.<\/p>\n<p>Josie has lost both her parents during her incarceration. \u00a0She saw her mother once in the last 23 years and regrets not being at her mother&#8217;s side during her final years.<\/p>\n<p>Josie had three young children when she went to prison and they are all now grown with families of their own.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_2408\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-2408\" style=\"width: 285px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-2408\" src=\"http:\/\/www.candoclemency.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/unnamed-1-e1437586846705.jpg\" alt=\"Josie with her daughter, and family \" width=\"285\" height=\"214\" srcset=\"https:\/\/sheryanne.com\/cando-new2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/unnamed-1-e1437586846705.jpg 500w, https:\/\/sheryanne.com\/cando-new2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/unnamed-1-e1437586846705-300x226.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 285px) 100vw, 285px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-2408\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Josie with her son, Ceasar, and his family<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure id=\"attachment_2407\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-2407\" style=\"width: 307px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-2407\" src=\"http:\/\/www.candoclemency.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/unnamed-e1437587154173.jpg\" alt=\"Josie with her second daughter and family\" width=\"307\" height=\"210\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-2407\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Josie with her second son, Danny and his family<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure id=\"attachment_2406\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-2406\" style=\"width: 272px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-2406\" src=\"http:\/\/www.candoclemency.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/unnamed-2-e1437587338942.jpg\" alt=\"Josie with her son and his family \" width=\"272\" height=\"219\" srcset=\"https:\/\/sheryanne.com\/cando-new2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/unnamed-2-e1437587338942.jpg 400w, https:\/\/sheryanne.com\/cando-new2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/unnamed-2-e1437587338942-300x242.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 272px) 100vw, 272px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-2406\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Josie with her daughter, Lizette, and her family<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>She has missed out on endless memories that can never be retrieved, but yearns to reunite with her family and salvage the years she&#8217;s missed as a grandmother.<\/p>\n<p><strong>From Josie:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Living in a small cell with different women all these years has taught me the value of a human being and their struggles. I have lived with drug addicted women, alcoholics, prostitutes,\u00a0murderers, abused, sexually, physically, mentally, and outcast from\u00a0society. \u00a0Prison became a home for some who were homeless and had no reason to continue, and from each personal story, I\u00a0have learned to understand their reasoning and with the love of\u00a0God have been able to be there for them to help them and never to judge them.\u00a0My selfish person has been destroyed, and now I can without a doubt understand the value of a human being regardless of their problems.\u00a0This experience has taught me the love of God for all human beings, and for this broken world &#8211; a revelation acquired through the pain of incarceration, which has\u00a0been my greatest accomplishment.<\/p>\n<p>The changes I have experienced in this place, have changed my relationship with Jesus Christ as my guide and Helper because if it was not for His help I never would have been able to do this time and be right here, right now, to tell about it.<\/p>\n<p>I enjoy working with Chaplain Ashworth at the Institution&#8217;s Chapel and I currently direct services when the volunteers fail to show up.\u00a0 I have taken endless programs while incarcerated but it is discouraging to acquire new talents and never have an opportunity to put some of those skills to use in a productive way, outside, in what we call, &#8220;the free world.&#8221; \u00a0The cap and gown I&#8217;m wearing in the photo was taken the day I graduated from a <strong>5400 hour training program for the Dept. of Labor<\/strong>.\u00a0 I&#8217;ve worked at Unicor for so many years, I&#8217;ve lost count and hope that I will have an opportunity to prove to my family and others that I can be a productive member of society, even at this late stage in my life. Most of all, I want to make up for all the times my children did not get to spend with me by being the best grandmother in the world.\u00a0 I hope and pray to be given that extremely rare chance.<\/p>\n<p><strong>From Josie&#8217;s daughter, Lizette:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>When my mom was put into custody I was 11. It was very difficult for me. It felt like my whole world got turned upside down. It was very hard growing up without my mom, not just for me but for my brothers also. There are so many things that my mom has missed while she has been in prison. I know it has been just as hard for her as it has been for us. Because of my mom&#8217;s prayers and faith in The Lord we had the strength to over come many obstacles. I am now 35yrs old and I miss my mom more and more everyday. No matter how many years have gone by I need her now as much as I did back then. We will be here to take care of her and help her get back on her feet. We will do anything to help our mom transition to life in society. My mom is an amazing woman. She is a very caring, understanding and a compassionate woman. Even though she has not been here physically I know that I could talk to her about everything. She is not just my mom she is my best friend. I can&#8217;t wait to have her home with us<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Josephine (Josie) was a teacher\u2019s aide who married her high school sweetheart and had three children.  She was never involved with drugs, never used drugs, nor had any desire to be involved in drugs, but like many women she was willing to do a favor for a family member.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":147,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_kad_blocks_custom_css":"","_kad_blocks_head_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_body_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_footer_custom_js":"","_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[27],"class_list":["post-146","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-now-free","tag-can-do-foundation"],"featured_image_src_large":["https:\/\/sheryanne.com\/cando-new2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/Josephine_Ledezma_sm.jpg",100,100,false],"author_info":{"display_name":"Amy Ralston Povah","author_link":"https:\/\/sheryanne.com\/cando-new2\/author\/candoamy\/"},"comment_info":0,"category_info":[{"term_id":5,"name":"Now Free","slug":"now-free","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":5,"taxonomy":"category","description":"","parent":0,"count":192,"filter":"raw","cat_ID":5,"category_count":192,"category_description":"","cat_name":"Now Free","category_nicename":"now-free","category_parent":0}],"tag_info":[{"term_id":27,"name":"CAN-DO Foundation","slug":"can-do-foundation","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":27,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":461,"filter":"raw"}],"taxonomy_info":{"category":[{"value":5,"label":"Now Free"}],"post_tag":[{"value":27,"label":"CAN-DO Foundation"}]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sheryanne.com\/cando-new2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/146","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sheryanne.com\/cando-new2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sheryanne.com\/cando-new2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sheryanne.com\/cando-new2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sheryanne.com\/cando-new2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=146"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/sheryanne.com\/cando-new2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/146\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15059,"href":"https:\/\/sheryanne.com\/cando-new2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/146\/revisions\/15059"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sheryanne.com\/cando-new2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/147"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sheryanne.com\/cando-new2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=146"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sheryanne.com\/cando-new2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=146"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sheryanne.com\/cando-new2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=146"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}