Justice For Byron Blake

Byron Blake Is A Native Of East St. Louis, IL. In 2007, He Was Tried And Convicted Of A Federal Drug Conspiracy Charge Which Ultimately Led To Him Receiving A 35 Year Sentence In Prison. Since Then Byron Has Sought Relief Through The Remedies Provided To Him, One Of Which, Was An Opportunity To Directly Appeal The Decision Of The District Courts. In 2008, Byron Blake's Case Was Reviewed By The United States Court of Appeals For the Seventh Circuit. In This Appeal Byron Challenged The Drug Quantity Used During His Sentencing On The Grounds That The Government Witness' Testimony Was Unreliable. The Government Witness First Testified That His Relationship With Byron Blake Began In 2005, This Relationship Subsequently Ended In 2006 When Blake Was Indicted. During Blake's 2007 Trial The Witness Testified That He Received 4.5 Ounces Of Cocaine From Blake Weekly "On A Front" For "2 Years". It Was Based On This Testimony That The Probation Officer Who Prepared Blake's PSI Report Reached The Conclusion That Blake Was Responsible For Distributing 13.5 Kilos Of Cocaine. Using The Finding Of The Probation Officer As A Basis The Trial Judge Sentenced Blake To 35 Years In Federal Prison Of Which He Would Have To Serve 85%. Upon Appellate Review, The United States Court Of Appeals Held That The Probation Officer's Finding Was Not Sufficiently Reliable And That The Court Should Have Attempted To Resolve The Issues In The Witness Testimony, The Core Of Those Issues Being The Witness' Claim That He Was Fronted 4.5 Ounces Of Cocaine Per Week For 2 Years. The Reason Why This Part Of The Testimony Was So Crucial Was Because It Was Used To Find A Drug Quantity Which In Turn Determined Blake's Sentencing Range. Based Upon The Evidence There Was No Way Possible That The Witness Was Receiving As Much Drugs As He Claimed For As Long As He Claimed. 2005, The Year In Which The Government Claims That This Drug Relationship Started Is Not 2 Years From 2006, The Year In Which Blake Was Arrested And We Know That This Drug Relationship Ended. The Court Of Appeals States This In Their Decision. In This Same Decision, The Court Of Appeals Also States That The Determination Of The Probation Officer Was "Not Sufficiently Reliable" And That The District Court Should Have Attempted To Resolve The Inconsistencies In The Witness Testimony. However, The Court Of Appeals Did Not Reverse The Decision Of The District Court Nor Did They Remand Blake's Case Back To The District Court For Those Issues To Be Resolved. Review Of Federal Rule 32(c) (3) (D) of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure If A Defendant Disputes A Fact Included In The Presentence Investigative Report, The Sentencing Court Must Either Resolve That Dispute Or State That It Will Not Rely On The Disputed Fact. In This Instance, The Defendant Disputed The Drug Quantity Attributed To Him, The District Court Did Not Resolve The Issue But Still Relied On The Disputed Fact. The Court Of Appeals Found This Drug Quantity To Be Unreliable, Found That The District Court Did Not Resolve The Issue And Still Affirmed The Conviction Of Byron Blake, Despite The Fact That Failure To Comply With Rule 32 Itself Is Grounds For Reversal. In Short, What We Have Here Is A Case Where A Mistake Was Made, The Court Has Acknowledged The Mistake And Still No Effort Was Made To Correct The Injustice. The End Result, A Man Sitting In Prison For 35 Years Based On Clearly False Testimony!!!!!! Attached To This Petition Are Exerts From The Transcripts, Inside The Red Circles You Will See The Statements Made By The Court Of Appeals And The Others Are Clear Copies Of The Same Thing To Show That No Language Was Altered!!!!! In Their Own Words, A Mistake Was Made, Now Its Time To Fix It!!!!! We Cannot Continue To Allow This System To Oppress People And To Blatantly Overlook Its Own Wrongdoing In The Process Of Punishing Others For Theirs!!!!!

Byron Blake Jr.    Contact the author of the petition