NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — Chris Young, a Clarksville man who received a presidential pardon, returned home for the first time since he was sentenced to life in prison eight years ago. The first person he hugged when he arrived in Nashville was the former judge who sentenced him.
Young and former Judge Kevin Sharp shared a special moment Thursday night when they reunited at the airport. Sharp sentenced Young to life behind bars following his third drug-related conviction. Young's previous two convictions were when he was 18 and 19-years-old.
Under the federal three-strikes law, a third conviction means an automatic life sentence. But Sharp eventually stepped down as a federal judge and became Young's advocate, lobbying for President Trump to grant Young clemency.
On his last day in office, Trump did just that.
Fortunately, we have men like Judge Sharp that had the courage and temerity to speak out against our in-just system and we had women like Kim Kardashian who was willing to use her celebrity to help bring attention towards that," said Young. "And fortunately, we had President Trump there was willing enough to put a pencil paper to correct some of the wrongs"
Young says the first thing on his to-do list is to reunite with his family. But in the long term, he plans to publish a book and he’s hoping to start a career in tech.
