"Clemency for Charles "Duke" Tanner"

Rita Cushenberry started this petition to President Donald J. Trump and Senior Advisor to the President Jared Kushner

(This petition made change with 83,026 supporters!)

I was arrested in 2004 for the first time in my life. I had a promising 19-0 boxing career, a two-year-old son and a family. But I used very poor judgment and broke the law by getting involved with drugs. I was convicted of conspiracy to distribute cocaine and given two life sentences. I realize now that taking the short cut was bogus and detrimental. I have been accountable and taken responsibility for my actions that sent me to prison.

I have been incarcerated now for almost 15 years, and have 12 years of incarceration remaining. I have paid a hefty price. Eleven years of my life have been spent in a Maximum Security Prison and during that time I have lost my mother, my father, and my oldest brother. All these years, I have not had any disciplinary problems and even the mayor of my hometown, a former Indiana Attorney General, wrote a letter to President Trump asking him to commute my sentence.

In 2016, my life sentence was shortened to 30 years thanks to sentencing reform. For the first time in 12 years, I woke up with a release date, and knew I was on the right track. My good behavior allowed me to transfer to a Low Security prison and I made it a goal to take every program available to me, completing over 1160 hours to date. I have completed the 'Life Connections' program, an intensive faith-based course that requires rigorous personal and moral accountability and I am working on initiatives to develop new options for inmates to learn skills that foster hope and help with re-entry.

My plans are to live in Indiana to be close to my son and my significant other. I have numerous employment opportunities pending my release. I am extremely passionate about mentoring youth as I have consistently and effectively done with inmates during my incarceration. My goal is to pick up where my life was cut short and make a substantial positive contribution to society, including training young boxers while I'm still young enough to lace up my gloves.

God had a plan for me. I had to go through this ordeal to be the man I am today. I am now a new improved version of myself and I yearn to return to society a productive, morally, ethically, and spiritually intact man. I humbly pray President Trump will agree that I deserve a second chance in the form of Executive Clemency. I will make him very proud if he chooses to favor me with his mercy.

Please sign my petition asking President Trump to give me a second chance. Read more about Duke, articles about his boxing career and clemency.