Ajay Dev is a 53-year-old father of two.  He is currently serving a 378-year aggregated sentence in Mule Creek State Prison in Amador County for sexual assault, a crime that he and several hundred others are adamant he is innocent of.  Ajay has maintained his innocence from day one and has spent his time in incarceration seeking relief through the justice system.  In addition to his efforts from a legal standpoint, Ajay is petitioning Governor Gavin Newsom to commute his sentence and allow him to go in front of the parole board for consideration of an early release.

In 1980, The Dev family immigrated to the United States from the poverty-stricken country of Nepal, bringing with them, their two sons, Ajay and his older brother, Sanjay.  Ajay was 13 years-old at the time.  Through their hard work and dedication, they built a life here in America.  The Dev family was able to maintain a strong economic foundation, putting them in a position to provide their children with a good education and to sponsor other Nepali children wishing to build a life in the United States.  Ajay became a civil engineer and worked for the California Department of Water Resources.  Sanjay became a professor of mathematics. 

Upon reaching adulthood, Ajay hoped to bestow the same opportunity provided to him to another Nepali adolescent.  He and his wife, Peggy, traveled to Nepal for six weeks seeking to adopt.  There, they met a young teen, sixteen years of age, whom Peggy bonded with.  The teen was a distant niece of Ajay and came from a family of all girls.  Her father, being expected to pay a dowry for each daughter, was economically strained and could not provide for his family.  The Dev’s were moved by the teen’s college aspirations and desire to better her circumstances.  They sought to provide her with an opportunity seldom available to older children and opted to adopt her, permitting them to instill the critical guidance necessary at that age and be the financial support her and her family needed.  Thus, it was determined that the teen would return back to the U.S. with Ajay and Peggy where she would obtain an education and establish a career that could later benefit her family back home.

Ajay and Peggy promised the family they would maintain the teen’s Hindu and Nepali cultural values while in the United States.  Upon their return to the U.S. The Dev’s enrolled the teen in school and provided her with every opportunity they could including: a computer, a cell phone, a steady job, and use of their car. However, as she reached maturity and became more accustomed to the life of a young American woman, she began to rebel; staying out all night, lying, dating adult men and becoming sexually active despite her cultural expectation that she wait until marriage.  After she became involved with an older man in his mid-twenties, Ajay sought to prevent the relationship from developing, resulting in the man breaking things off.  The very next day, Ajay’s adopted daughter alleged Ajay had sexually assaulted her from the time of her adoption.

At trial numerous inconsistencies and blatant falsities were presented.  So much so, that it garnered attention from local media, protestors and organizations such as The Davis Vanguard Court Watch.  The People’s Vanguard of Davis is a 501(c)3 non-profit, a community-based watchdog and news reporting organization that publishes daily covering the city of Davis, Yolo County Courts, and other regional news and commentary. The Vanguard seeks to bring transparency, accountability and fairness to local government, while promoting social justice and democracy, and adhering to principles of accuracy and fairness in our reporting.

David Greenwald, found of the Vanguard, covered the trial and reported on it real time.  He remains convinced of Ajay’s innocence.  In 2016, in anticipation of Ajay’s appeal, the Vanguard released the following “2,608 days an American has spent imprisoned, having committed zero crimes. The man, Ajay Dev, was charged in a system that may have had racial pressure coming from one side and economic pressure coming from the other, but he was certainly convicted in a way so heinous, in a way so despicable, that even the most optimistic among us can only see our justice system for what it is fast becoming: an anarchic meat market…. despite her continually changing story, despite the complete lack of detection of physical or mental abuse by the girl’s adoption-mandated doctors and social workers, and despite many more oddities in her accusations, this man was convicted.”

Now, 11 years later Ajay remains behind bars after a jury found him guilty of the 46-counts of sexual assault on his adopted daughter and 30 other related counts he was charged with.  His conviction was the result of a recorded call between Ajay and his adopted daughter which the trial judge erroneously let be translated by the accuser herself.  According to her inaccurate translation, Ajay had admitted his guilt.  New evidence establishes the inaccuracy of her translation.

His sentence of 378 years could be viewed as extreme even for a guilty person, but for one who maintains his innocence, it’s utterly cruel.

Ajay has been forced to watch his two sons grow up without him, unable to even hold his youngest for 7 years due to the nature of his convictions.  Nonetheless, he remains optimistic.  He continues to receive a large amount of community support and has never given up on his fight for justice.  The prison staff have commended him numerous times for his excellent behavior and positive outlook.  He was even permitted contact visits with his children based on the warden’s determination that Ajay posed no danger to anyone.  This is truly a rare case and is very telling of his nature.  To date, Ajay has reminded incident free, both prior to this conviction and while incarcerated!

In keeping with his giving and selfless nature he has maximized his incarceration; rather than be idle and dwell on his circumstances Ajay has spent his time helping others.  In 2012 he developed a tutoring program within the prison called “Fast Track Math” which focused on aiding inmates who aspired to obtain their G.E.D. or pass college entrance exams.  Through the program, Ajay has assisted about 30 inmates obtain their G.E.D.  He even helped create a graduation ceremony to help honor those who achieved their goal.  Today, he continues to tutor inmates seeking to better themselves.

Ajay has stated, “my purpose in life is to live a life of truth and love, and by sharing those things with others to encourage our mutual healing toward the wholeness we were made for.  To give my talents, whether intellect, mathematics, or wit, to brighten others’ lives.  To leave my world better than when I came into it… to know love, and serve God, in part by doing so for those around me.”  His work within the prison both as a tutor and as a member of the Advisory Council, serving as an advocate for improved communications between inmates and staff, Ajay has demonstrated his dedication to living a life of purpose.  

We ask that you join our efforts and help facilitate justice for Ajay and his family!