人兽性交

Gaaron Bethel is trapped in the revolving door of Alabama鈥檚 criminal justice system.

At 53, he is incarcerated at Childersburg Work Release, a minimum-security facility in Alpine, Alabama. He鈥檚 serving the remainder of a 35-year enhanced sentence for one count of burglary of an unoccupied store from an incident in 1994 where nothing was stolen. The rest of the sentence stems from two counts of illegal possession of a credit card from 1996, charges to which he pleaded innocent.

But these charges aren鈥檛 even the reason Bethel is currently behind bars. It was a parole violation that sent him back after being granted parole in October 2017.

His experience is an example of how even when someone is fortunate enough to be paroled in a state with a low parole grant rate, they can quickly be sent back to Alabama鈥檚 dangerously overcrowded prisons over small violations. In Bethel鈥檚 case, returning to his small town where it seems residents and police only see him as someone who has been to prison made starting over a challenge and ultimately led to his return to prison, Bethel and his older sister said.聽聽

鈥淚 paid my fees every month and I reported every month,鈥� Bethel told the Southern Poverty Law Center in late November. 鈥淚 even passed all the drug tests, I don鈥檛 do drugs anyway, but I took all the tests they wanted me to. I did everything the parole board wanted me to do upon my release, and then I get a violation.鈥�

In May 2018, not even a year after being released from prison, Bethel was arrested in Georgiana, his small central Alabama hometown. The charge was for criminal surveillance, a misdemeanor, for allegedly looking into a resident鈥檚 window. Yet, to this day a case has never been tried, and Bethel has never been convicted of any crime related to the alleged incident. According to the Georgiana Municipal Court clerk, there is the possibility the case may be dismissed. A judge has the option to dismiss the case before it鈥檚 even tried, particularly since the case has already sparked revocation of Bethel鈥檚 parole and returned him to prison.

A small town鈥檚 memory

In Georgiana, a town of roughly 1,600 people, residents don鈥檛 forget when a member of the community goes to prison 鈥� even if they don鈥檛 remember the charge. For Bethel, it meant that people were too eager to call the police on him again, according to his sister.

鈥淭he only thing I know is that [Bethel] was walking down the road,鈥� said Brenda Scott, his older sister and a school teacher in Georgiana. 鈥淚t could have been said at any given time, if he was seen walking down the road and someone said, 鈥楬ey he鈥檚 peeping in my window,鈥� then that鈥檚 it around Georgiana.

鈥淭hat鈥檚 all he needed was someone to call and report it. He didn鈥檛 even need to come near the house, he could鈥檝e been on the other side of the street. But because people saw he was walking, that was a problem, all because he didn鈥檛 have a car or something.鈥�

In June 2018, a month after Bethel鈥檚 initial arrest, the 鈥減eeping鈥� allegation resulted in him聽 charged as a parole violator. He was held in Butler County Jail until August when he was transferred back into the custody of Alabama鈥檚 Department of Corrections. He has remained there since.

Scott says she has cautioned her brother not to come back to Georgiana the next time he鈥檚 released 鈥� it appears too risky because of police and community scrutiny. Although their upbringing taught them not to question the court system, Scott鈥檚 years as a school teacher have allowed her to see other young men in Georgiana become entangled in the criminal justice system like her brother.聽

鈥淚t's sort of like they鈥檙e getting stuck,鈥� she said. 鈥淐ertain people get those charges, they don鈥檛 have a problem with it鈥� and can successfully restart their lives. But she added: 鈥淐ertain Black boys get arrested with the same charges, and it鈥檚 messing them up for the rest of their lives.鈥�

This past August, Bethel was denied parole.

Among the reasons the parole board indicated on his denial paperwork: 鈥淣o reasonable effort made to complete rehabilitative programs while incarcerated, negative input from stakeholders (victim, family of victim, or law enforcement), multiple parole or other community-based supervision revocations.鈥�

However, there鈥檚 evidence Bethel completed several programs during the years he鈥檚 been incarcerated, including the Substance Abuse Program and faith-based programs. He also received his GED diploma. Despite these efforts, Bethel has fallen into a cycle of minor parole and probation violations over the past several years that鈥檚 pulled him back into the state鈥檚 prison system again and again.

鈥淲hen you鈥檙e in a situation like that, you鈥檙e basically totally helpless,鈥� Bethel said.

鈥榊ou were supposed to trust them鈥�

Bethel was born in Georgiana, a town in Butler County within Alabama鈥檚 Black Belt region. He was the youngest boy of eight children. Bethel said his father was a natural business owner who worked in lawn care and the logging industry during his early years. Later, his father became a licensed minister, as did his mother.

鈥淢y dad is the one who taught me how to work,鈥� said Bethel, who wants to take courses online in business administration whenever he鈥檚 released from prison. 鈥淗e taught me how to get out there and make money.鈥�

Bethel first encountered Alabama's criminal justice system in his early 20s, when he was just getting started in life.

He was put on probation for a theft charge in Montgomery in 1992. Court records state he was seen wearing a friend鈥檚 clothing after it was allegedly stolen at a laundromat. The real trouble, however, started when he was picked up in Butler County for a burglary charge in 1994.

According to the indictment, Bethel committed burglary in the third degree or was 鈥渦nlawfully in a building,鈥� a local grocery store in Georgiana, 鈥渨ith the intent to commit a crime.鈥� Nothing was actually stolen. Still, Bethel, though initially pleading not guilty, took a guilty plea in 1995 and received a 15-year split sentence with two years to serve for the charge then three years of probation.

Bethel told the 人兽性交 he never set foot in the store, and said he was a victim of police brutality after one of the arresting officers hit him in the head several times as he was arrested on a nearby street. He filed a civil lawsuit against the Georgiana Police Department in 2002 over the incident, but the officers named in the suit denied his claim. The statute of limitations had expired, so the case was ultimately dismissed.

鈥淢y parents 鈥� didn鈥檛 know to question anything,鈥� said Scott, reflecting on their upbringing in Georgiana and her brother鈥檚 early cases. 鈥淭he police were the best in the world, and you were supposed to be able to trust them to do the right thing.鈥�

Today, however, her brother鈥檚 experience makes such trust in the criminal justice system difficult, if not impossible.

In October 1996, when Bethel was released on probation, he was arrested again by Georgiana police within a week for allegedly breaking into vehicles. He wasn鈥檛 charged for breaking into the vehicles, but he was eventually charged with two counts of illegal possession of a credit card that was taken from one of the cars.

This time Bethel maintained his innocence and took the case to trial, but was convicted in 1998 as a habitual offender because of his two prior felony charges. He was sentenced to 20 years for each count to run concurrently. Because he was also on probation at the time of the arrest, his probation was revoked and the original 15-year sentence for the 1995 burglary charge was applied, resulting in a 35-year sentence.

Bethel, adamant about his innocence and the unfair nature of the excessive sentence, has filed almost a dozen motions for post-conviction relief pro se, or on his own behalf, since 1998.

One of his motions holds a letter from the alleged victim in the credit card case that notes, 鈥淚 was told my purse was found while the person was attempting to burn it. I don't believe the police mentioned a name at the time. Only after I was summoned, did I see your name. And if you will read the transcripts of my testimony at the trial, or if you can remember, I never once pointed you out or said that I saw you do it. So I can not falsely accuse you, if I never accused you. I don't know you, I don't have anything against you, nor would I gain anything by your incarceration. ... I will pray that your life will get back on track.鈥澛�

One of hundreds harshly punished for violations

Still, Bethel鈥檚 motions, and opportunities for freedom, have been denied or taken away for minor missteps when he has been released over the past two decades.聽

Bethel was also paroled once in 2006 but, according to Scott, received a violation for sleeping over at a woman鈥檚 home he was seeing at the time while living at his mother鈥檚 house.

鈥淗is address was my mom鈥檚 and he met a young lady and would go to her place when he got off work. But they told him if he moved somewhere else he had to let his parole officer know. Well he didn鈥檛 actually move anywhere else, he just spent the night there,鈥� Scott said. 鈥淗e was being returned [to prison] on nothing. I don't know if there were any charges each time he was returned. It was just the fact the police were called on him.鈥�

Bethel was back in custody of the Alabama Department of Corrections in 2007.

鈥淲e have no choice but to just let them do it,鈥� Bethel said about parole violations. 鈥淲hat we say ain鈥檛 gonna change nothing.鈥�

Unfortunately, Bethel鈥檚 back and forth with the parole system is not unique.

Between May of this year, when Alabama鈥檚 parole board returned from a hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and Dec. 3, only 564 people were granted parole out of 2,669 hearings. During these parole board meetings, almost as many people 鈥� 557 鈥� had their parole revoked, and 923 more were declared delinquent, meaning they鈥檝e received a violation, opening the possibility of revocation at a future parole court hearing.

For Bethel, with his most recent parole denial, he most likely won鈥檛 be released until 2022 when his sentence ends. Since he鈥檚 been incarcerated his father has died and he鈥檚 lost a brother. His mother, now in her 80s, has dementia. According to his sister, the last time Bethel was home in 2017, his mother hardly recognized him due to her condition.

But Bethel stays focused on fighting his cases to this day, and starting and maintaining a business, maybe a lawn care company like his father, whenever he鈥檚 out of custody.

鈥淚 just take it one day at a time, and when I see negatives I try to veer the opposite direction,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 try to keep myself motivated, I never say, 鈥業 cannot鈥� because I know I can. It鈥檚 what keeps me going every single day.鈥�

Read more about the聽Freedom Denied聽蝉别谤颈别蝉听here.

Illustration by Ryan Simpson