Uhuru 3 beat prison time at sentencing hearing
Tampa, FL – On December 16, around 100 supporters from across the country rallied at the Sam M. Gibbons Federal Courthouse in Tampa, Florida for the sentencing hearing of the Uhuru 3: Omali Yeshitela, Penny Hess and Jesse Nevel. In September, the Uhuru 3 were found not guilty of acting as unregistered agents of the Russian government but were unfairly convicted of “conspiracy” to act as unregistered agents of the Russian government.
Prosecutors were pushing for five years of prison time and $250,000 fines for the Uhuru 3. Instead, U.S. District Judge William Jung sentenced them to 36 months of probation, 300 hours of community service, no jail time and no fines. As soon as the judge left the courtroom, the packed courthouse broke into applause and continued their celebration outside with chants of “Not one day, not one dime!”
“When they indicted us, they expected us to fold. They expected us to run or to take a plea, which is mainly how they achieve their 99% conviction rate in federal criminal cases,” said Jainabah Lumumba, the southern regional representative of the African People’s Socialist Party and granddaughter of Yeshitela. “We didn’t fold, we didn’t run, we didn’t hide, we didn’t take a plea to confess to something we didn’t do.”
Inside the courthouse, Judge Jung stated that the Uhuru 3’s statements had been protected speech. “If you listen to what the judge had to say, he said what our lawyers have been saying all along,” said Yeshitela. “Our lawyers have said that we shouldn’t be here. Our lawyers have said that even if this thing goes to trial, it’s an assault, a major assault on the First Amendment.”
After the verdict, a summation and rally were held at the Uhuru House in Saint Petersburg where Attorney Angela Reaney indicated that the Uhuru 3’s legal team will be submitting an appeal of the conspiracy conviction.