Mr. Thomas Dion Span was born in Albany, Georgia, however, he was raised in various parts of metro Atlanta. Currently, he is serving a life sentence with an additional 20 years added to be run consecutively for an incident that involved him taking a life in self-defense.

   Despite improper legal representation and several major constitutional violations during the course of his trial, he has received no post-conviction relief. At no time did Mr. Span deny the incident and threw himself at the mercy of the court because he was only protecting his own life.

   Before prison, he was a father-to-be, full-time employee, and founding member of a platinum selling music group. While incarcerated, he has successfully completed his General Educational Development (GED) and programs like Motivation for Change, Family Violence, Re-entry Skills, Career Center, and the Faith and Character Based Initiative. Amongst other skills acquired by utilizing his time wisely while incarcerated, he has become a fashion designer, writer, and motivational speaker. He is also the founder of Writetoremainsilent.com, which was designed to prove that people like him, who have made life altering mistakes, can show they have redeemed themselves and are ready to rejoin their communities and families. He has dedicated himself to assisting other offenders and youth by counseling them, offering to help them learn pertinent life skills, and leading them by being a positive example. Although people like Thomas D. Span may or may not be one of the ones to change the world for the better, he may spark the minds of the ones who will. By signing this petition to grant him Parole, you are acknowledging that Thomas is a human being who made mistakes at a young age but can rectify them. He has proven he deserves a second chance at life outside of prison where he has been confined for over 18 years now. Moreover, he has proven he deserves clemency and can be an asset to society and not a menace.

Thank you for your time and consideration.