Inspirational inmate finds his freedom day: Trucking school found granted early parole from San Quentin
By Steve Brooks Bay City News Early one Monday morning in May Vincent O Bannon was dropped off outside the gates of San Quentin Rehabilitation Center after serving more than years in prison He was convicted of commercial burglary and sentenced to serve years to life plus four months under California s Three Strikes law But on April a Santa Clara County Superior Court judge resentenced O Bannon to years with credit for time served Two years ago the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation referred O Bannon s development back to the trial court after noticing sentencing errors in specific legal court documents The superior court expeditiously denied resentencing O Bannon gave up any hope after a year until one special evening He was covering a Dee Dee Simon concert for the inmate-run San Quentin News newspaper in the Protestant chapel when a friend walked over to him O Bannon commented He announced Did you know you are being resentenced I just read it on my Viapath tablet ' O Bannon disclosed Sure enough an appellate court ruled in my favor From news writer to new life O Bannon spent more than a decade at San Quentin He went from being a San Quentin News writer to taking thousands of pictures as their photographer His last role there was as senior editor He is also an alumnus with the KALW radio podcast Uncuffed But the bulk notably O Bannon helped his daughter Autumn fulfill her dream of bringing the first-ever truck driving training module inside the San Quentin prison Concrete Rose Correspondence School began almost two years ago O Bannon was the president and lead facilitator But has since passed his role to a graduate of the undertaking The project has graduated two cohorts of more than a hundred hopeful future truck drivers They have both English and Spanish classes and have of late started a plan specifically for youth offenders Concrete Rose has a long waiting list O Bannon announced his goal now is to get simulators introduced into the prison for in-cab inspections and walk-around inspection training I think we have a lot of aid from San Quentin administration who say they want to do it he declared Lately I ve been getting really lucky But it wasn t just good fortune that got O Bannon re-sentenced and circulated He also did the work of addressing his criminal factors by taking a multitude of self-help groups offered at San Quentin He had a lot of advocacy letters even from unlikely allies San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins and Santa Clara County Assistant District Atttorney David Angel The judge was also impressed with O Bannon s self-reflection work and corrected behavior O Bannon s road to freedom wasn t easy In fact it started rocky despite his rehabilitative achievements At one point he gave up on being resentenced and prepared for a parole suitability hearing in the summer of It was his first board hearing appearance but he was granted parole For two months he excitedly prepared to go home to see his children and grandchildren But then he got the news that the state s Board of Parole Hearings was having him investigated for circumventing CDCR s restitution collection process Related Articles Correctional officer injured in inmate attack at Bay Area prison Residents calls for replacing Santa Rita Jail fitness care provider as contract nears end Critics blast hourslong gap before bureaucrats disclosed inmates escape from New Orleans jail Man who allegedly attacked rapper Tory Lanez in California prison has previous conviction for assault on inmate Letters East Bay should prepare now for refinery closure O Bannon ended up being taken in handcuffs to an Investigative Services Unit office and read his Miranda rights Eventually he was detected guilty of circumvention and his parole date was rescinded They uncovered me guilty of having my wife put money into other prisoners trust accounts he announced The board commissioners explained that that was criminal thinking and it meant I still posed a threat to society
