SUCCESS STORIES: MATTHEW 25:36 PROJECT Results

The following testimonies is the fruit of the Justice & Mercy's Matthew 25:36 Project. Justice & Mercy receives many requests for assistance ranging from broken glasses to medical malpractice, including the need for legal representation. Ken Reidenbach, a consultant for Justice & Mercy visits inmates every day at Lancaster County Prison and responds to requests.

Below are a few examples which illustrates the power of prayer, the collective action from our ‘Circle of Christian friends’, along with the ongoing financial support of many, justice and mercy touches lives with the love of Christ.
(Note names have been omitted out of respect for privacy and to protect inmate confidentiality).

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Allen
A person in the leadership at the church to which Allen was a Deacon, asked Justice & Mercy to take on his case because they felt Allen was innocent of the charges. By the time Justice & Mercy met Allen, he was already convicted of selling securities to a midwestern car dealer who had fled the country after receiving $10 million dollars from investors. While many other agents across the United States participated in the selling of the $10 million dollar securities, Pennsylvania Attorney General charged Allen and attempted to imprison him for 20 years. Upon Allen’s request, Justice & Mercy investigated the case further and testified before the court, which reduced his sentence to 4.5 years. Even though Justice & Mercy believed he did not commit a crime, we were thankful for the lesser sentence. Today Allen is serving in a local church, his family is intact, and he is complying with all the court’s wishes by paying $1,200 per month to the victims. Allen has become a specialist in selling and providing electricity to residential, commercial, and farming consumers. Justice & Mercy strongly recommends that you consider this company to supply your electricity needs and save money.

 ​(“Allen is a good man.” To find out more about Allen's electrical savings, call Tom Zeager, President of Justice & Mercy @ 717-808-9890.)
 
Ben
12 years ago, at the age of 18, Ben was a foolish young man on drugs. He was charged and convicted with killing his girlfriend after driving his car at a high rate of speed and crashing into the guardrails. Ben went to prison for 3rd degree murder and a sentence of 30-50 years in prison. At the request of Ben’s parents, Justice & Mercy decided to investigate the case, focusing primarily on who is Ben Today? And should we advocate for a new trial for Ben or some type of mercy release? Our investigation showed that Ben is a changed man, helping others in prison. Justice & Mercy needs to gain public support for Ben’s early release. With the work that Justice & Mercy is doing and the hiring of the appropriate investigators and attorneys, Ben’s case will need at least $50,000. If anything is going to happen, it will take a miracle from God. Ben has changed his ways and is deeply sorry for the pain his terrible decisions 12 years ago caused. Justice & Mercy is advocating for an early release for Ben because we believe that the department of corrections has done their job in correcting Ben. The best thing for Ben, his family and the people of PA is for him to come home.

Carol
Carol was arrested for creating and falsifying doctors’ prescriptions among other related charges. During her court hearing, the judge indicated that she could be sentenced to up to 50 years in prison. Carol had 4 children during this time, all under the age of 16. If a defendant is sentenced to more than 25 years in prison, the state has the right to take their children from them without the opportunity to ever get them back. A local Mennonite pastor and his wife asked Justice & Mercy to get involved because they did not feel the charges were fair. In Justice & Mercy’s opinion, further investigation showed that the charges actually belonged to her husband. After several meetings with Carol, her husband and the Mennonite pastor, Justice & Mercy agreed to help Carol and advocate for a more reasonable sentence. The judge gave Carol 8 months of house arrest with time allowed to shop for groceries, doctor’s appointments and attend Sunday morning worship service. With the mentoring of the Mennonite pastor and other churches, Carol and her family are doing much better. There has been no repeat of any drug offenses. If Justice & Mercy had not gotten involved, Carol would have most likely gone to prison for over 20 years and lost her children forever.

Johnny 
In 1995, at the age of 16, Johnny was charged and convicted with murder in the city of Philadelphia. In 2001, Johnny’s family contacted Justice & Mercy to ask for help because they believed he was innocent. However, they had no money to pay for Johnny’s defense. After visiting Johnny in prison many times, Justice & Mercy believed he was telling the truth and decided to work on overturning his guilty verdict. Justice & Mercy presented his case to the Pennsylvania Superior Court after 13 years of working on the case. A defense attorney volunteered his time, while Justice & Mercy did most of the research. For the first time in superior court, the Judge committed an obstruction of justice. As the result, sadly, Johnny sat in prison for another 4 years. In 2015, a God appointment occurred in a Lititz, Pennsylvania restaurant. Justice & Mercy had the opportunity to confront the judge on his miscarriage of justice. The Judge apologized and said he would help us with Johnny’s case. 4 years later, Justice & Mercy was able to present Johnny’s case to superior court. This time the judge said that if the Justice & Mercy report was true she would release him. However, first she needed to have the Philadelphia DA’s office investigate the charges and Justice & Mercy’s report. In 2018, Johnny was declared innocent of the murder charge and set free after serving 23 years in a state prison. Today Johnny manages an auto repair business in Philadelphia. Since his release, Johnny has been able to help Justice & Mercy with other state prisoners he knew.

Josh
Josh went to prison for a crime he did commit. His reputation was smeared in the news as a mean, aggressive, monster. When Josh’s brother asked Justice & Mercy to get involved with his case, I said no because of all the terrible rumors I had heard about him. However, after further research into the case, I discovered that most of the allegations against Josh’s character were not true. Justice & Mercy got began investigating Josh’s case and decided to advocate for his return home. After 6 months, Josh was released from prison after spending 8 years in prison he returned home to his family. Justice & Mercy got involved in putting together a good home plan to guarantee that these outbursts of anger would never happen again. Josh has been home for 3 years now and has successfully reentered back into the community. Many people regret what they said about him because they realize now that it was not true. 

In December 2016 it was brought to our attention that a female inmate had slipped and fell on a wet floor on the 2-5 block in November 2016. When she was seen by a member of the medical team, she was given an icepack and told that she would need an x-ray. This matter was presented to Justice & Mercy, Inc. because no x-rays were ever taken. The inmate reported being in a great deal of pain. She was concerned and confused why she had not been scheduled for an x-ray, or a doctors visit. Ken Reidenbach's follow up included speaking with the warden, who then initiated the scheduling of an x-ray. The x-ray results concluded that she did have a fracture and an appointment with an outside orthopedic physician was required.

In July 2016 a young man contacted Justice & Mercy, Inc. in despair and desperation. Like many people incarcerated in county jail, he was confused and felt like there were no resources or answers to his impeding criminal charges, nor any hope for a different life. Ken Reidenbach was contacted and informed that he had recently attempted suicide within his cell at Lancaster County Prison and really needed just someone to talk to. He had been informed that his release date was in July. However, he was incorrectly informed and his release date was actually in November instead. Ken Reidenbach was able to gather all of the sentencing and commitment order paperwork in an attempt to discover the reasons for the discrepancy. The individual was very thankful for Justice & Mercy, Inc.'s intervention and information when no one else could provide an explanation for the incorrect release date. He was very thankful for the care and concern received in his time of despair. He was successfully released in November 2016.

A common problem that inmates in county jail face is their representation by the Public Defender’s office. An individual reached out to Justice & Mercy, Inc.’s Matthew 25 Project because of communicate problems and effectiveness of his public defender. He had questions from time served in other facilities and how that time was credited towards his sentence. These questions remained unanswered, for months and there was no one response to his request for help. Justice & Mercy, Inc. 's consultant was able to provide this inmate with his options in pursuing alternate counsel and help understanding his legal situation. Justice & Mercy, Inc. was able to provide an attorney referral who was able to help this individual obtain the justice he deserves. Together Ken and the attorney were able to find problems with his release date and other discrepancies on his dockets. This serves not only the individual but is a good example of how tax payer money can is saved by not retaining inmates beyond their release dates.

Not many of us know or understand what it is like to spend an entire day wondering if anyone remembers us or if everyone has completely forgotten us. Requests from inmates often receive little to no response. The only hope of concern may come in the form of paper received from the the different departments that can be addressed with requests. A female inmate visited by Justice & Mercy, Inc. had been sentenced to work release. She had numerous times sent correspondence to the work release department concerning her transfer so that she could continue with her employment she had prior to incarceration. When Justice & Mercy, Inc. contacted the work release department it was revealed that they did not receive the requests and had been trying to contact her as well. Unfortunately, Justice & Mercy, Inc.'s intervention via Ken Reidenbach was needed to initiate a visit from the work release department to fix the miscommunication. Such efforts from Justice & Mercy, Inc. connect inmates with the resources they really need to begin the process of preparing for the successful reentry to the community upon release.

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​If Justice & Mercy has helped you, a family member or someone you know, we would love to hear from you and learn about your story! To speak with a member of our team contact [email protected].

These are just a few examples illustrating the need for visitors at the Lancaster County Prison as well as at all county and state prisons throughout Pennsylvania. Some of these requests may seem meaningless to us, but are indeed more important than we can imagine. Acknowledging these requests demonstrates that Justice & Mercy not only cares but whenever possible can take action.

Are you interested in visiting with inmates? If so, Justice & Mercy can help prepare you. See ‘Volunteer Opportunities’ to find out how you can get involved!