My friend Tracy Cowan is serving a virtual life sentence for a crime she didn’t commit.

My name is Marie Walsh. In 2008 I was in a similar position to Tracy’s -- accused of a crime I didn't commit and forced into a year long battle to prove my innocence. I’ve since cleared my name and become an advocate for prisoners’ rights, but it was during that year that I met Tracy.  When I heard her story, I was heartbroken.

In  2001, Tracy’s ex-boyfriend asked her to look after his son. She agreed, and even gave her ex a key to her apartment so that he could visit his son from time to time. She never imagined that he would use her apartment to store large amounts of drugs.

Not long afterwards, law enforcement officials raided Tracy’s house, and it was she -- not her ex-boyfriend -- who was charged with drug possession. Tracy was eventually sentenced to 20-40 years in prison for a crime she did not commit. Her ex, on the other hand, would eventually walk free.  

I am asking  Governor Rick Snyder and the Michigan Parole Board to commute Tracy Cowan’s sentence. She has already spent 10 years behind bars for someone else’s crime. She shouldn’t spend a minute more.

Tracy isn’t a  thug or hardened criminal. She had no prior record. In fact, before she was locked behind bars she was an known throughout  the community as a role model. She volunteered with several organizations and worked hard to not only improve the lives of her three children, but the community at large. By the age of 40, Tracy had started a family, earned a BA in business, and was excelling in the childcare industry with hopes of starting her own business.  This is not the life of a drug kingpin.

Tracy made a terrible mistake when she gave her ex her key. She knew he was involved in drugs, but she never imagined he would put her or her children’s lives at risk by  bringing  drugs into her home. Unfortunately and unjustly, she was still deemed responsible for the drugs confiscated from her house even though not a single print of hers was found on any of the paraphernalia.

Please join me and ask Gov. Snyder and the Michigan Parole Board to grant Tracy Cowan clemency. She has already served far too long. Your signature could help change the life of an amazing woman, a great friend, and loving mother.