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...

Trevis Smith Granted Full Parole

((HT: CBC/CP))

Former Canadian Football League player Trevis Smith ((pictured, thanks/Regina Leader-Post)) was granted full parole Wednesday after serving almost two years of a six-year sentence for knowingly exposing two women to HIV, which causes AIDS.

Smith, 32, appeared before a panel of the National Parole Board in Prince Albert, Saskatchewan, where he is serving time at a federal penitentiary. The parole board members said they believed Smith has displayed insight into his actions and will be a manageable risk in the community. He will be released from prison on February 25.

"As bad as it may seem, this is probably the best thing that ever happened to me," Smith told the panel which also learned that he had completed a sex offender course.

Smith spoke softly during the one-hour session before the three-person panel. He said he no longer expects to be a professional athlete, but is interested in coaching. The board noted that Smith, who is originally from Alabama, will be required to return to the United States and that a stay on a deportation order in place against him will be lifted.

Smith said he planned to rejoin his wife and two children in the states and become a substitute teacher. When asked if he would be allowed to work with children, Smith said it should not be a problem.

"I won't have a criminal record in Alabama," he said.

Smith was found guilty of aggravated sexual assault in February 2007. A judge found Smith had unprotected sex with two women and did not tell them he was infected with HIV. Two victims, one from Regina and one from British Columbia, testified that Smith denied having the virus when they were intimate with him.

Smith will have to inform Canadian officials if he returns to Canada for any reason. He is also not allowed to have any contact with the victims in his case. Smith was a starting middle linebacker for the Saskatchewan Roughriders for seven years before he was arrested in 2005. His conviction followed two years later.

He said he would work hard to be faithful to his wife, Tamika, who supported him throughout the case, notwithstanding the evidence of numerous affairs.

"You're a lucky man she still supports you after what you've done," board member Terry Elliot commented during the hearing.

A Regina woman who attended Smith's hearing was not so forgiving. The woman, who cannot be named due to a publication ban, was not a victim in the criminal case against Smith, but her involvement with him helped to spark an investigation into Smith.

"I believe Mr. Smith will be a danger to the community," she told the board. "He lives in a world of denial and selfishness."

Corrections reports filed with the board described Smith as an impulsive, hyper-sexed man with an inflated ego and sense of entitlement. Smith countered those assessments saying that time in prison has helped him realize he needs to change.

Jason Warick's story from the Saskatchewan News Service is in black...
The Saskatoon Star-Phoenix goes in-depth in black...

Trevis Smith Applies For Parole

((HT: Chris Purdy/CP))

Former Saskatchewan Roughrider football player Trevis Smith ((pictured, thanks/CP file)) is applying for his first shot at freedom since he was sent to prison for knowingly exposing women to the virus that causes AIDS.

One ex-girlfriend who will be attending the National Parole Board hearing Wednesday said she plans to ask the board to keep Smith, who was convicted of two counts of aggravated sexual assault, behind bars for his full six-year sentence.

"I think he thought he was above the law for the longest time," the 32-year-old woman from Regina said in an interview Tuesday.

The woman, who can't be named because of a court-ordered ban, was not a victim in the case against Smith, but helped spark the investigation against the football player. Her positive HIV test led to Smith being tested in 2003.

Smith, an inmate at the Saskatchewan Penitentiary in Prince Albert, is seeking full parole status. If granted, he would be released on February 25. The married father of two, originally from Alabama, was found guilty in 2007 of having unprotected sex with two women and not informing them he was HIV-positive.

Smith was a starting middle linebacker with the Saskatchewan Roughriders when he was arrested in 2005 during the final days of the Canadian Football League's regular season as the team prepared for the playoffs.

The two victims in the case, another woman from Regina and one from British Columbia, both testified at trial that Smith denied having the disease when they were intimate with him. The woman from British Columbia, who actually had a three-year relationship with Smith, testified the football player didn't even tell her about his condition when she talked about her plan to donate a kidney to her ailing father.

Neither victim contracted HIV, but the B.C. woman said she had thoughts of suicide while waiting for her test results. Smith testified in his own defence at trial. He claimed he told the B.C. woman about his condition and they used condoms from that point on. He testified that he didn't have sex with the Regina victim after his positive test.

But provincial court Judge Kenn Bellerose didn't believe him. He sent Smith to jail for 5 1/2 years describing him as a "deceitful and dishonest" man. Smith was also given an additional six months for violating bail conditions while awaiting trial. He was not be alone with females over 14 years of age, but court was told he made out with one woman while on bail. The woman asked Smith about his arrest and he denied having HIV, the judge heard. In the second breach, Smith told his bail supervisor he was going to a house for work, but he was really planning to meet up with a girlfriend.

Smith lost his job with the Roughriders because of the crime. After he was sentenced, he apologized in court to the team, as well as his wife -- who stood by him during the trial -- his two children and his many lovers. Smith later appealed his conviction, but he lost his case before the Saskatchewan Court of Appeal.

Bernard Pitre, a spokesperson for the National Parole Board, said full parole is only granted if an inmate can show he does not present a risk to the community. He said Smith is likely to present the board with a release plan that includes where he would live, what he would do for a job and what he has for community support.

The board also has the option of granting Smith day parole, which would send him to a halfway house. Pitre said he also expects the board will hear information on whether Immigration Canada plans to deport Smith to the United States if he is released.

If denied parole, Smith can re-apply in about six months and gets an automatic review in two years. He is slated for statutory release on February 26, 2011.