INDIANAPOLIS -- By all rights, Turner Ashe Jr. should never have seen another free day in his life.
At the age of 40, Ashe found himself standing in front of a U.S. District judge – charged with his third federal drug trafficking offense.
As the Times of Northwest Indiana reported in 2003, prosecutors implicated Ashe in a drug-trafficking conspiracy that stretched from California to Indianapolis.
Ashe and two other men were accused of filling up hidden compartments in vehicles with cocaine and then driving them across the country.
By the time he was arrested, prosecutors alleged Ashe and his co-defendants had moved 10 kilograms of cocaine, worth as much as $250,000.
If convicted, Ashe faced a mandatory sentence of life without parole under the Violent Crime Control & Law Enforcement Act of 1994 – the so-called "Three Strikes Law."
Prosecutors offered Ashe a plea deal and 20 years in prison. He decided to take his chances at trial – and lost.
On Nov. 2, 2003, U.S. District Judge Sarah Evans Barker sentenced Ashe to life in prison without parole.
No End in Sight
Ashe, now 53, eventually wound up at Pekin Federal Correctional Institute – a medium-security prison in in Pekin, Illinois.
He appealed his conviction, arguing ineffective counsel and wrongful sentencing. His latest appeal was denied in February 2015.
Outside of prison, his wife, Charmaine Ashe, passed away while he was behind bars.
Then, in December 2016, Ashe's son, Turner Ashe III, was convicted by the state of Indiana on cocaine-related charges of his own. Ashe III was sentenced to 18 months in prison for possession of cocaine and possession of a handgun without a license out of Hancock County.
He's currently serving his sentence at the Edinburgh Correctional Facility. His earliest projected release date is June 12, 2018.
For Ashe Jr., there was no release in sight. Then, the assistant warden called him to his office last month with an unbelievable development: President Barack Obama had commuted his sentence.
Ashe was one of five Hoosiers – two men from Indianapolis and three from Evansville – to receive a commutation from Obama as one of his final acts in office. Four of the five Hoosiers to receive commutations, including Ashe, were serving life sentences.
FULL STORY | Obama commutes sentences of five Indiana inmates
Ashe now has a projected release date: Jan. 17, 2019 – conditioned upon enrolling in a residential drug treatment program.
He agreed to a phone interview with RTV6 about the prospect of life behind bars and his surprise commutation. Find a transcript of the call below:
You've served about 13 years of a life sentence. Last month, President Obama commuted that sentence. What was it like hearing that news?
"Well, I tell you what. It was nothing like anything that had ever happened to me before. It was a blessing. I stood firm on the belief that I was sentenced unjust, first and foremost, and when the actual reprieve came down, it was a blessing for me and my family."
Speaking of your sentencing … you maintained in your appeals as recently as 2015 that you were totally innocent. Do you still hold that view?
"Right now, no I do not. Because, the actual reason why that a person goes to trial is because, first and foremost they offer you too much time. I was 39 years old at the time of the conviction – 40, matter of fact. And the plea bargain was 20-plus years. For me to sit around … it was just too much time, at the time. But regarding my innocence … I was guilty of the charge I was convicted of."
Was there a point that the thought you might never get out of prison became overwhelming for you?
"At one point early in the first part of my time, it was rough. It truly was. I just didn't know which way to go. I didn't see a window of opportunity whatsoever. But later on, about four or five years ago, I gave my life to Christ. And I just stood on God's word. You know, he pulled me through. I lost my wife during this time. I lost many family members. I had to have something else to hold onto. I thank God for President Barack Obama for having the faith to give men like myself a second chance."
Let's talk about that. You have this second chance, against all odds. Do you know what you're going to do with it?
"You know, it happened so fast. It was like I woke up one day and my whole life changed at the blink of an eye. But yeah, I'm pretty much … I have a game plan. I got me an associate's degree in paralegal studies while I was incarcerated. I want to go when I get out and do truck driving. Just get away from a lot of people and be with myself."
Your son, Turner Ashe III, is currently serving a prison sentence for cocaine possession. How does it feel knowing that he followed in your footsteps in that regard?
"It hurts, you know? It hurts. I made mistakes that … if I would have been thinking, my son wouldn't be in the situation that he is. But that's a good question, because the young men out there need their fathers. And their mothers, because there's a lot of women locked up and incarcerated with life sentences, or doing an extra-long amount of time. But they need their parents. And when we're taken away for such a long time – not that we're not guilty – but when we're taken away for such a long time, that leaves our children vulnerable. Not to say that he wouldn't have made the mistakes. But his chances would have been greater that he could have become something more in life. But I hold myself accountable for that. I hold myself accountable for his mistakes."
The two of you will be getting out of prison around the same time. Have you thought about what you'll say to him when you're face to face?
"First and foremost I'm going to let him know that I love him, and that it's never too late to change and better yourself. Because this road that myself and he are experiencing is not something that a man of his stature should have to go through. Because he has children also. I want him to be home to raise his child. I did not have the chance to truly raise him as a man. I wish that I could give it all back just for that chance."
Let me ask you … maybe, just for people who might be like your son, on the same path as you … could you explain in your own words how you ended up here?
"I got here because I was hardheaded. I did not have the guidance. I just wanted to do what I wanted to do. And it cost me. It cost me … well, when I come home, it'll cost me almost 15 years of my life. Something that I could have been more responsible to the community with my actions. Instead of tearing it down, I could have been building it up. And I'm very sorry. I just want the people to know that I'm very sorry."
"This mistake is something that I brought upon myself from ignorance. I owe the community. And the best thing I can do is go out and let people know what certain roles can lead them to, especially the kids out there."
You said earlier that you are a Christian now. You've accepted Jesus. Do you think that you're, as some people might put it, "reformed?"
"I believe deep in my heart, because no one's perfect, but I believe deep in my heart that there's not a possibility that I can place myself in that situation again. And I'm going to work hard at not placing myself in that situation, with the people I'd be around, my attitude toward life. Yeah, I think I'm reformed. I think I'm pretty much, 15 years later, a changed man. I truly believe that."
Jordan Fischer is the Senior Digital Reporter for RTV6. He writes about crime & the underlying issues that cause it. Follow his reporting on Twitter at @Jordan_RTV6 or on Facebook.
