ST. LOUIS COUNTY, Mo. – A convicted robber now has some in the law enforcement community behind his fight for freedom.
62-year-old Paige Spears was convicted of an armed robbery that was in Ferguson in 1988. He was 27 years old at the time and was with another man who reportedly had the gun.
There was no report of a shot being fired or anyone getting hurt, but Spears was sentenced to life under an old three-strikes-and-you’re-out law. It was a law Missouri changed shortly after Spears was convicted, but it was not made retroactive to include people like Paige Spears.
“Paige is stuck there because it was in effect when he committed the crime,” retired Sgt. John Frank said. “He’s been rehabilitated. He actually teaches the rehabilitation classes now—for the penitentiary.”
Frank is part of a group in law enforcement taking up the convict’s cause. It’s a group that operates a police podcast called “The Brighter Side of Blue.”
His colleagues didn’t buy it at first.
Retired Major Dan Howard told us, “We have 105 years of police experience, and one’s still active, so that number is only going up—of putting bad guys in jail, and here comes retired Sgt. Frank wanting us to get a robber out of jail, and he did his research, and you know, this guy deserves to be out.”
“He really laid out all the facts, and at that point we were all just like, ‘Yeah, yeah, this guy needs to be out of jail,'” Another retired police officer, Tom Sawyer, added.
Howard continued, “So we would like him to come out and make room for another bad guy. Get one of these carjackers and fill his cell.”
Under the current law, Spears would have been eligible for parole 10 years ago. Instead, he’s not up for parole for more than a decade.
We spoke to him by phone from prison.
“I’ve never had, uh, this type of support, you know, really trying to fight to help me get out of prison,” he said. “I’m so used to being incarcerated by law enforcement.”
Spears’ 88-year-old mother, Betty Cummings, said she should be preparing to spend the holidays with her son, but hopes maybe there’s still a chance.
“I am so happy that someone, you know, comes up and wants to help him. I’ve been let down so much,” she said.
Spears’ only chance for freedom at this point is clemency from Missouri’s governor. Frank says there’s a request right now in the governor’s office. We’ve called to see if it’s being considered.