Clinton Cocaine Witness Sharline Wilson Freed from Jail
John Crawford
Clinton Cocaine Witness Sharline Wilson Freed from Jail
http://newsmax.com/showinsidecover.shtml?a=2000/1/3/224314
Monday January 3, 11:37 PM
The woman who told a federal grand jury that she saw President Clinton snort
cocaine, only to be sentenced herself to 32 years behind bars in what many
believe was an act of political retribution, was finally released from an
Arkansas jail on New Year's Eve.
In September, the state's Governor Mike Huckabee reduced Wilson's sentence,
making her eligible for parole. Those who had been fighting for her release
had hoped it would come by mid-October.
Even when the state's post-prison transfer board insisted on a final review
of her case, it was still expected that Wilson would be home for Christmas.
Appearing Monday night on Jane Chastain's K-Light Los Angeles radio show,
Wilson told NewsMax.com that her freedom was delayed because state and local
authorities had to handle her case carefully.
"The Arkansas parole board is very laid back, very methodical, and they
don't hurry anything and they wanted to see me one last final time," said
the former federal witness.
Wilson thanked Dr. Charles Chastain, an Arkansas criminal law professor and
parole board member, for "going the extra mile with me" to help convince his
colleagues to set Wilson free.
She came close to freedom once before, when the Arkansas parole board
recommended clemency in 1997. But Gov. Huckabee, a Republican, was running a
law and order re-election campaign that made it difficult to turn even a
political prisoner like Wilson loose.
"If you look at the political climate in Arkansas, Republicans still have an
uphill battle there. They're still trying to prove themselves," said the
K-Light's Chastain. "That's why he merely reduced her sentence to a point
where she was eligible for parole and then let the parole board set her
free."
Chastain and fellow California talk host, broadcasting legend George Putnam,
have made Sharline Wilson's freedom a cause celebre with their respective
audiences. But because the national press would rather ignore Wilson and her
story, the rest of the nation remains largely in the dark about the woman
who was, until Friday, America's most controversial prison inmate.
The former Little Rock drug dealer was convicted in 1993 of selling a small
quantity of cocaine to an undercover narcotics officer. Under Arkansas law,
first-time offenders like Wilson rarely see lengthy jail sentences.
The president's own brother, Roger Clinton, who bragged on a police
surveillance videotape about selling substantial amounts of coke, was out of
jail in less than a year.
Wilson's real crime, it seems, was that she gave sworn testimony to a
federal grand jury in 1990 about selling cocaine to Roger Clinton. Roger's
older brother, then-Governor Bill Clinton was not only present during one
transaction; he promptly snorted some of Wilson's coke and reeled backwards
into a garbage can.
The newly free Arkansan spent her third day on the outside with her mother
and sister in Malvern, Arkansas. Wilson told NewsMax.com that she's taking
things "one day at a time for now."
Born again while in jail, she has developed an abiding religious faith,
acquired computer skills and hopes to begin a new life as a drug and alcohol
counselor.
But after six years behind bars, resources are scarce. Anyone who would like
help can contact:
Sharline Wilson
PO Box 1191
Malvern, Arkansas 72104