TRACEY: LIFE TRANSFORMED
Tracey’s only memory of his father is the two weeks they spent incarcerated at the same time at Graterford Prison. Tracey was 19 years old and facing a mandatory life without parole sentence for a crime committed when he was 17. This was his first encounter with the prison system, and his father’s advice was to be tough to survive. Following that advice, Tracey assaulted a corrections officer, earning him an additional life sentence.
Even in those dark moments that turned into years spent in solitary, Tracey was not alone. His family and YSRP were on the outside advocating for his release. YSRP worked alongside Tracey’s pro bono counsel, Montgomery McCracken Walker and Rhodes, offering strong mitigation and humanizing context to his decision-making when he was still a teenager. YSRP Senior Advisor Eleanor Myers, Senior Mitigation Specialist Annie Ruhnke and Senior Reentry Coordinator John Pace provided ongoing support to Tracey for many years and, in particular, for his parole hearings along the way.
With this and other disciplinary infractions, Tracey wound up spending nearly 14 years in solitary confinement. Amazingly, while in the "hole," he was able to reflect. He saw how many others deteriorated severely under the inhumane and brutal conditions of solitary. But he steeled himself: this wouldn't happen to him. And it didn't.
Tracey took in the advice from a correctional officer who told him, "You know, I go home every night to my family and my kids. You aren't hurting me; you are only hurting yourself." He survived that experience and, even though still serving a life sentence, he earned his GED and transformed into a mentor to others.
Tracey’s accomplishments in prison are remarkable—but none more remarkable than the strength he found in his family, who refused to give up on him. He faced his final resentencing hearing in 2022 and though he had been in prison since 1990, 17 members of his family across three generations were present. They drove two hours to Wilkes-Barre to offer him emotional support—as they had through his years of incarceration—as well as housing and other logistical assistance. Those who were not able to make the drive showed their support via Zoom.
Upon Tracey’s release on parole in November 2023, he returned to his family home with a mother, brother, aunts and uncles and nieces and nephews to welcome him. And the power of redemption is not lost on him.
Tracey will be the first to tell you two very important things about the arc of his life. First, he takes responsibility for the actions that led to them. But, more importantly, at 52 years old, he is not the same man as the 17-year-old kid who entered prison so long ago. He is funny, sports-loving, gentle, thoughtful and kind. And he is proof that we are so much more than the worst things we have ever done.
YSRP continues to provide reentry support to Tracey as he reintegrates into a life that passed him by for more than 30 years.