I am writing this petition on behalf of Jacob Noelting-Petra, requesting that he be granted a commutation of sentence (Early Release). The purpose of this petition is to show support and encouragement for this commutation to be granted. Jacob was sentenced to 25 years in prison for robbery in the first degree; his sentence includes a 70 percent mandatory minimum, which equates to 17.5 years before he is eligible to be considered for parole. Despite this conviction, Jacob has positively impacted the lives of many people and has proven to be deserving of a second chance in life. 

In understanding the significance of this request, it is necessary to understand a bit about the nature of Jacob’s background, including what led to his conviction. When Jacob was 18 years old, he and two others broke into the home of a well-known marijuana dealer (Jon Winburn) who was supposed to be out of town on vacation for the New Year. Upon entering the home, they were surprised to see that Jon and his girlfriend (Amanda) were home early from vacation. In this moment, their planned burglary turned into a robbery. Despite the obvious poor decision, it is worth mentioning that neither victim was physically harmed in this encounter.

I have known Jacob for most of my life and even when he went down the wrong path, he was still a good person. Since being incarcerated, Jacob has turned his life around; he has chosen to focus on bettering himself by striving for personal excellence and motivating those around him to excel as well.  During his incarceration, he has developed into the strong, motivated man of integrity and potential that lay dormant in his earlier years. Committing this crime, being convicted and thus sentenced served as an effective reality check which prompted him to take note of and change course from the destructive path that he was on. Jacob has continuously and consistently expressed the great remorse he feels for his actions, and he has a sincere understanding that his actions were criminal, immoral, and wrong.  He has never tried to defend, minimize, or explain away his activities, thus taking responsibility for his actions and committing to live a life free of crime. Additionally, he focuses on being accountable in his actions and has not shifted blame on others, including the other two men involved.

Although he knows that he deserved to go to prison for what he did, we humbly seek this commutation not only because of the nature of the crime, but also because of the severity of the sentence. As stated, Jacob was 18 years old when one poor decision, one ill- fated plan, changed the entire trajectory of his life. In those young and impressionable years, Jacob, easily and unfortunately, was a wayward youth who naively thought that burglarizing the home of a known drug dealer would not lead him to where he is today. At 18, he was given a mandatory minimum of 17.5 years; at 18, he lost the opportunity to reach full maturation; and at 18, he was faced with the reality that he would reach adulthood behind prison walls with the only chance for freedom being available at nearly 40 years of age. With this bleak future, it is only logical to infer that Jacob’s chances of ever being a normal, functioning adult, one who can positively contribute to his family and community, have been cut short and almost completely diminished. Nevertheless, Jacob has not fallen victim to the gaps in the prison system; he has, however, chosen to embrace the lessons embedded and in this experienced and focus on being a better man.

Undeniably, Jacob made a significant poor choice that has already cost him 8 years of his life, and more importantly, 8 years of lost time with his daughters. In this time, he has proven to be rehabilitated, which is the goal of modern- day incarceration. Although the initial ruling dicates that Jacob serve an additional 9 years before being considered for release, the time that he has already spent highlights the character of the man that he has grown to be. Jacob has taken advantage of every opportunity that has been available since he has been in prison, never allowing his situation to hinder him from reaching his goals. Jacob has gotten what he needed out of prison, he changed his life for the better and I know with an opportunity to rebuild his life, he will succeed.

Below is a list of accomplishments and skills Jacob has completed and obtained:

•  High School Diploma (DMACC)
•  Grinnell College – 60 credits earned
• Completed Business Program - Iowa Central Community College 
• Graduating with Associates of Arts Degree - Iowa Central Community College (June 2019)
• Currently enrolled in Carpentry Apprenticeship with 2000 hours logged
• Life Skills Program
• NAMI Peer to Peer Certification
• Wood Working School
• Special Needs Mentor
• GED/HISET Tutor
• Leader Dog for the Blind program
• Fundraiser Coordinator for Relay for life
  • Obtaining leadership and organizational skills
  • Attentive listening
  • Problem Solving
• Sports Event Coordinator
  • Thrives in a team environment
  • Communication skills
  • Conflict Management

Jacob wrote his own piece that we would like to share with all of you. Please see below:

        “I sit here writing this today in an attempt to explain the journey I have been on to portray the true transformation I have gone through over the past 8+ years. I was a kid who thought that I could do no wrong and had the big misconception that I knew better than everyone else. I could begin to tell you about the things I went through that contributed to the mental and emotional state of mind I was in, about all the obstacles in my life that may have pushed me to my flawed thinking, but I don’t believe that is important any longer as I have taken full responsibility within myself for my actions. They were the actions I chose to make, they were wrong, and I am very sorry for what I have done. The misfortunes that life dumped in my lap that lead me to making those terrible decisions no longer matter. What is important; I have accepted responsibility and my wrong doing and made the choice to move forward in life with a new-found determination to be a positive and uplifting person to all those I come in contact with. I have dedicated my life to being the best person I can be in all avenues of life. I take this very seriously and continuously work towards this every day. I have involved myself in countless programs to better myself and do all that I can to give back to society by offering a positive influence on those who are willing to change their lives around. I openly help anyone who wants to really make that change and actually enjoy helping people figure out where they would like to get to in life. The growth that I have went through as an individual since being incarcerated is tremendous and cannot be fully measured. My mindset is what sets me apart from others; my will to succeed, to help others and the drive to push positive change on to those who are around me is a unique and rare thing that most people don’t possess. I know what I need to do in life, just as I knew I needed to make changes in life. I have successfully made the changes necessary and have embraced this new life style and fell in love with the person I have become. I will be the first person to say that I needed prison and I am also the first person to say that prison indeed saved me. I have a different outlook on the prison system than most inmates because I know that prison truly saved me from myself. I chose to embrace the opportunities that prison can offer to those who choose to utilize them. I chose to change my mindset, my outlook on life and what was important to me and because of that I could appreciate and make use of the positive tools that are available while being incarcerated. I have gotten what I needed out of prison and have changed my life completely around. However, with 9 years left of my mandatory, I am not able to fully complete the journey that I have been on. I am unable to start the new journey of the rest of my life by getting my life back on track and putting this chapter behind me, but never forgetting where I came from to make me that much more thankful for what I will accomplish and achieve in life. I need an opportunity to get started, a second chance at life. The prison system is supposed to be for reform and rehabilitation and I can honestly say that it has done its job 100 percent in my case because I wanted that change, but now it is coming to the point where I can’t get anything more out of prison and am wasting time that I could be using towards getting my life back on track, getting my roots planted and becoming a productive member of society. This mandatory minimum is holding me back from turning the page in the book that is my life and preventing me from being the father I want to be for my daughters as well as inhibiting me from obtaining my goals that I have set and am ready to accomplish.

I ask you to please support me in requesting that this commutation be granted so I can begin writing my next chapter in life!”

By signing this petition today, you are contributing to a prison release success story and we cannot thank you enough for your time and the love and support you are showing our family as we fight for this commutation to be granted so Jacob can come home and start building the life that he truly deserves!

We have also created a GoFundMe account to help with bringing Jacob home! Any help is greatly appreciated!!

https://www.gofundme.com/commutation-to-bring-jake-home&rcid=r01-155131678106-dafa23e60e424f03&pc=ot_co_campmgmt_w

Please share with your friends and family over social media!