He Went to the Movies With His Daughter. It Cost Him the Rest of His Life.
The Issue
Nemessis Bates is serving life for a murder he says he never planned and never knew about. Help bring him home.
It started with a favor.
In 2010, Nemessis took his daughter out to a movie. A friend asked to tag along, then asked to borrow his car. Nemessis said yes. That’s who he was: the guy everyone in the neighborhood could count on.
When he got home that night, he opened his safe and found more than $70,000 gone.
Then everything spiraled.
Angry and desperate, Nemessis talked about the theft to anyone who would listen at his car wash, the one place in New Orleans where everyone knew his name. He wanted the police to act. He never imagined who else was listening.
Someone heard. And without his knowledge, they took matters into their own hands and a man was killed.
Nemessis wasn’t there. He didn’t know it had happened. But days later, the men who did it came to him with a demand: pay up, or you’re next.
He was afraid for his life.
He handed over two of his cars. He didn’t go to the police. Friends who testified at his trial said they urged him not to, because they feared he would be killed. Nemessis has never pretended that was the right call. He has lived with it every day since.
But paying off the people who threatened to kill you is not the same as ordering a murder.
The choice that changed everything.
Before trial, prosecutors offered Nemessis a deal: 7 years. Then another: 20 years. All he had to do was say he was guilty.
He couldn’t. He believed in the truth and in the jury. He said no and went to trial.
The jury convicted him. The sentence was life in prison, with no possibility of parole.
The man he has become
Nemessis was once an LSU football player with pro dreams, until Hurricane Katrina and his father’s illness reminded him what mattered. He gave up the game to build a car wash that became the heart of his community.
Today, more than 11 years into his sentence, he is still that man. He leads daily Bible study. He earned a place in the GROW Unit, where the warden calls the residents “our model inmates.” He holds a job in the Captain’s Office, a role given only to people officers fully trust.
The officers who see him every day have put their names on letters in support of his release:
“He has proven trustworthy, level-headed, and compassionate to others.”
— Lieutenant Travis Eidson
“He would be a positive mentor to others.”
— Officer Brandan Burch
What he is asking for
He isn’t asking anyone to forget what happened. He grieves for the family who lost someone. He is asking for a sentence that fits his actual role, and for the chance to spend the rest of his life proving who he is.
The courts have no more answers for him. The President does.
Will you stand with him?
Send him some LOVE:
Nemessis Bates # 32795-034
FCI Marianna
P.O. Box 7007
Marianna , Fl 32447
135
The Issue
Nemessis Bates is serving life for a murder he says he never planned and never knew about. Help bring him home.
It started with a favor.
In 2010, Nemessis took his daughter out to a movie. A friend asked to tag along, then asked to borrow his car. Nemessis said yes. That’s who he was: the guy everyone in the neighborhood could count on.
When he got home that night, he opened his safe and found more than $70,000 gone.
Then everything spiraled.
Angry and desperate, Nemessis talked about the theft to anyone who would listen at his car wash, the one place in New Orleans where everyone knew his name. He wanted the police to act. He never imagined who else was listening.
Someone heard. And without his knowledge, they took matters into their own hands and a man was killed.
Nemessis wasn’t there. He didn’t know it had happened. But days later, the men who did it came to him with a demand: pay up, or you’re next.
He was afraid for his life.
He handed over two of his cars. He didn’t go to the police. Friends who testified at his trial said they urged him not to, because they feared he would be killed. Nemessis has never pretended that was the right call. He has lived with it every day since.
But paying off the people who threatened to kill you is not the same as ordering a murder.
The choice that changed everything.
Before trial, prosecutors offered Nemessis a deal: 7 years. Then another: 20 years. All he had to do was say he was guilty.
He couldn’t. He believed in the truth and in the jury. He said no and went to trial.
The jury convicted him. The sentence was life in prison, with no possibility of parole.
The man he has become
Nemessis was once an LSU football player with pro dreams, until Hurricane Katrina and his father’s illness reminded him what mattered. He gave up the game to build a car wash that became the heart of his community.
Today, more than 11 years into his sentence, he is still that man. He leads daily Bible study. He earned a place in the GROW Unit, where the warden calls the residents “our model inmates.” He holds a job in the Captain’s Office, a role given only to people officers fully trust.
The officers who see him every day have put their names on letters in support of his release:
“He has proven trustworthy, level-headed, and compassionate to others.”
— Lieutenant Travis Eidson
“He would be a positive mentor to others.”
— Officer Brandan Burch
What he is asking for
He isn’t asking anyone to forget what happened. He grieves for the family who lost someone. He is asking for a sentence that fits his actual role, and for the chance to spend the rest of his life proving who he is.
The courts have no more answers for him. The President does.
Will you stand with him?
Send him some LOVE:
Nemessis Bates # 32795-034
FCI Marianna
P.O. Box 7007
Marianna , Fl 32447
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Petition created on October 19, 2026