DALLAS - This graduation season, very few stories match the perseverance of one graduate at Southern Methodist University.
At the age of 22, Chris Young received double life sentences in federal prison with no parole. But with help from a Dallas attorney and the federal judge who sentenced him, Young was granted clemency in 2021.
This weekend, he will graduate from SMU.
Chris Young’s Story
Young describes himself as a man of resilience, resolve, and redemption.
Growing up in Clarksville, Tennessee in abject poverty, Young said he turned to selling drugs to provide for himself.
"I didn’t have a biological father. I never met him or even seen a picture of him. And my mother suffered extreme crack cocaine addition," he said. "I didn’t sell drugs because I wanted to. I didn’t sell drugs because I thought it was cool. I thought it was the thing I needed to do to escape poverty."
Young was arrested twice as a teenager. After his third drug arrest at the age of 22, he was given two life sentences with no possibility of parole under a mandatory "three strikes and you’re out" sentencing law.
"I knew that I was getting life – nothing I could do, nothing my lawyer could do, nothing the judge could do. The only person who could change this was the prosecutor and I also knew that I had a right to speak at my sentencing," he said.
Young didn’t know it at the time, but his words impressed Judge Kevin Sharp. The federal judge didn’t like being forced to put Young away for life and ended up stepping down.
"I didn’t know that at the time, though, so I had to go in prison and start my prison bid just knowing I had two life sentences. And I had to figure out a way to get out and one day I got the news that Judge Sharp was resigning in protest not only of mandatory minimums but specifically to help me get released," he said.
Judge Sharp began to fight for Young, along with Dallas Attorney Brittany Barnett. His story also got the attention of Kim Kardashian, who lobbied on his behalf.
Then in 2021, President Donald Trump granted Young clemency.
SMU Graduation
On Saturday, Young will take home degrees from SMU in economics and public policy.
He will be the first person in his family to graduate from college, despite all of the odds that have stacked up against him.
This is his message to others.
"Your mentality equals your reality that you will never be defeated physically if you don’t let someone defeat you mentally. If you allow yourself to believe you can, you will and if you believe you can’t, you won’t. So, your mentality equals your reality. So, how you perceive life is how it will be. So, allow yourself to channel that pain, that anger, that sadness, all those emotions that you feel enduring those hardships. Channel it to propel you further in the right way," he said.
Since his release, Young has also written a book titled "The Wound is Where the Light Enters: A Memoir of Resilience." It will be released in August.
He said he hopes he is able to smash stereotypes.
He also wants to help others see and believe that life doesn’t have to end the way it may begin.
The Source: FOX 4 reporter Shaun Rabb gathered the details for this story by interviewing Chris Young.