Trevis Smith Out On Full Parole

Here's the end of this particluar chapter in the Trevis Smith case- a proceeding we've been following from the absolute beginning here at OSG HQ...

He's out...

Smith ((pictured, thanks Don Healy/Regina Leader-Post)) who was a former CFL football player who received a six-year sentence in 2007 after having unprotected sex with two women when he was HIV-positive, was released on full parole Wednesday morning from a Saskatchewan correctional facility.

Smith, 32, was granted full parole on January 14 after serving a third of his sentence for aggravated sexual assault. Smith, however, won't serve his free time in Canada, said Arti Jolly, a spokeswoman for the National Parole Board.

"He will not be released into the community at all — that's part of the conditions of the parole," Jolly said Wednesday. "He will go directly from the institution to (the United States)."

The former Saskatchewan Roughrider is facing a standing deportation order which will come into effect upon his release. He is set to serve the rest of his sentence on parole in his native state of Alabama with his wife and two children.

His sentence expires in 2013.

During a parole hearing in January, Smith said he didn't inform his sexual partners of his HIV status because he was embarrassed and in denial. His parole officer said Smith was a well-behaved prisoner and the parole board found he did not pose a risk to reoffend.

Jana G. Pruden of the Regina Leader-Post ran a piece when the decision was initially handed down. The story reveals, in the eyes of the Canadian justice system, the sentence is concluded.

“The thing is that once an offender leaves the country, he’s no longer our responsibility,” said Bernie Pitre, regional director of the National Parole Board. “It’s not a concern of Canadian authorities ... If he were to remain in Canada, it would be a different story.”

Jeff Campbell, regional communication manager for the Correctional Service of Canada, said offenders who are facing deportation orders are usually taken into custody by immigration officials at the institution, and then removed from the country.

Under the Corrections and Conditional Release Act, that moment effectively ends the person’s sentence, and Campbell said the person is then outside the jurisdiction of the Canadian parole system.

“At the moment of handover to the immigration officials, the sentence is considered served,” Campbell said.

Smith served two years of a six year sentence.

The Leader-Post ran a fantastic editorial on January 16. It is in black...

Those of us at OSG HQ consider Smith to be lucky on a few different levels.

Personally, the idea of being "embarassed and being in denial" is a profoundly, asinine defense.

You're lucky people bought it.

You only served two years of a six-year sentence.

You're lucky the system is built that way.

Now, you say you want to be a teacher back home in Alabama...?

Your students should be so lucky as to learn your story...

So, will you tell them...?

Or will we be the lucky ones to share your fortunate tale...?

Enjoy your freedom, sir.

Enjoy your freedom...