ST. LOUIS — A St. Louis man who was sentenced to more than two centuries in prison for an armed robbery he committed as a teenager will soon be a free man.
Bobby Bostic will be released from prison late next year after having been granted parole for a 241-year sentence, according to the American Civil Liberties Union, which represents Bostic.
On the evening of Dec. 12, 1995, Bostic and his 18-year-old friend robbed a group of people delivering Christmas gifts to those in need in their neighborhood. During the robbery, one of the victims was shot, the bullet grazed his skin.
Bostic and his accomplice then forced a woman into her car and drove off, letting her go a few blocks away after stealing from her, too.
Bostic's friend took a plea deal. A judge sentenced him to 30 years in prison.
Bostic's fate was different though. He chose to go to trial, and a jury found him guilty of 18 criminal charges.
The judge sentenced Bostic to 241 years in prison.
At the time, Circuit Judge Evelyn Baker felt Bostic was not a likely candidate for rehabilitation and required his sentences to be served consecutively so that he would not be eligible for parole until 2091. Judge Baker intended for Bostic to die in prison, she stated in the courtroom in 1997.
Bostic would have had to live to 112 to even be considered for parole.
“I’d never given anybody that amount of time. I stacked him,” Baker said.
Bostic was served a longer sentence than murderers at the Jefferson City Correctional Center.
RELATED: Supreme Court denies appeal of STL man sentenced to 241 years for crimes he committed as a teen
In 2010, the Supreme Court of the United States held in Graham v. Florida that it is unconstitutional to sentence a juvenile to life without the possibility of parole for nonhomicide crimes. The court required a minor be given a “meaningful opportunity to obtain release” by showing “that the bad acts he committed as a teenager are not representative of his true character.”
Throughout the years, Bostic petitioned Missouri state courts and the Supreme Court, seeking to have an opportunity for release. He lost every time.
Meanwhile, he won an important new ally along the way: now-retired Judge Baker.
In the thousands of cases Judge Baker tried in her 25-year career, she said this is the only one she regrets.
“He's gotta fly on his own. He's gotta live outside the Department of Corrections. I think he has the chance to be an amazing person, get married, have kids, be a part of a community,” Judge Baker said in a 2020 interview with 5 On Your Side.
Baker even supported new legislation based on Bostic’s case. The ACLU worked with Missouri legislators on both sides to pass a state statute allowing anyone younger than 18 sent to prison for life without parole for nonhomicide crimes they committed as juveniles to ask a parole board for a review of their case after 15.
The law went into effect in August of this year, and Bostic’s November parole hearing was one of the first under the new law.
“While the legislature continues to add to the books laws that push young people from school to prison, Bobby demonstrates what we all know: who we are as children does not forever demarcate who we can become as adults," Tony Rothert, ACLU of Missouri’s Director of Integrated Advocacy, said.
In the meantime, Bostic will be provided courses to ease his re-entry into society.