Kim Kardashian defends man sent back to prison after accidental release

Kim Kardashian has shown her support for a man who has just been sent back to prison after being accidentally released two years ago. 

Matthew Charles was sentenced to 35 years back in 1996 for dealing crack cocaine to a police informant.  

Charles, who is now in his 50s, was granted an early release in 2016 when former President Barack Obama changed the guidelines and reduced the minimum sentences for crack offenses. 

After a federal judge reduced his sentence after two decades behind bars, Charles was released on parole and started rebuilding his life again in Nashville, Tennessee.

Matthew Charles, who is now in his 50s, was sentenced to 35 years in prison back in 1996 for dealing crack cocaine to a police informant

Kim Kardashian tweeted support for Charles on Monday after he was sent back to prison in South Carolina last week after being accidentally released two years ago

Kim Kardashian tweeted support for Charles on Monday after he was sent back to prison in South Carolina last week after being accidentally released two years ago

He got a job, started volunteering and met his girlfriend Naomi Tharpe.

But a US Attorney’s office then appealed his release and argued that he was legally a ‘career offender’ because he had previously served time in prison before the cocaine offense. 

A Court of Appeals agreed that Obama’s change in the law didn’t actually apply to Charles and he was ordered in March to return to prison to finish the rest of his 35-year sentence.

Charles was given 45 days to get his affairs in order before returning to a medium security prison in South Carolina last week.

Nashville Public Radio spoke to Charles in the days before he was sent back to prison and Kim Kardashian tweeted a link to their story on Monday. 

‘This man is sentenced to 35 yrs for selling drugs. He serves over 21 yrs, is released, finds a job, new relationship, starts a new life, & now is being sent back for another 10 yrs because the original release was an error. This man has completely rehabilitated himself. So sad,’ Kardashian tweeted.

When a judge granted his early release in 2016, Charles started to rebuild his life again. He got a job, started volunteering and met his girlfriend Naomi Tharpe

When a judge granted his early release in 2016, Charles started to rebuild his life again. He got a job, started volunteering and met his girlfriend Naomi Tharpe

A Court of Appeals ruled that an Obama law change didn't actually apply to Charles' reduced sentence and he was ordered in March to return to jail to finish the rest of his 35-year sentence

A Court of Appeals ruled that an Obama law change didn’t actually apply to Charles’ reduced sentence and he was ordered in March to return to jail to finish the rest of his 35-year sentence

In the 45 days before he returned to prison, Charles donated all of his belongings, quit his job, returned his SUV to the dealer and handed back the keys to his rented apartment in East Nashville. 

Charles and his girlfriend discussed their relationship and spoke of what their health situations might be after a decade. 

‘We don’t know what’s going to happen. It’s a conversation you don’t want to talk about because you don’t really know what you’re talking about. So how do you even handle that?’ Tharpe told the radio outlet.

Tharpe said she planned to visit Charles every weekend in prison.

‘My reality today was I woke up this morning with Naomi,’ Charles said on the day he was due to surrender. 

‘We went to Shoney’s to eat breakfast. We were able to move according to our own accord. Whereas tomorrow, they’ll tell me when I can eat breakfast, when I can move, when I can shower or go to the rec yard. They’ll control my life.

‘Here’s a man who’s changed, right? Some see the changes and others don’t want to see. But that doesn’t mean that I’m going to change back. I didn’t do it for the US Attorney’s office to say ‘Charles has been a good boy, let’s give him a break.’

‘No, I’m going to continue to live out this new life… It is a great life.’ 

 



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