FARMINGTON, Mo. — A St. Louis man sentenced to life in prison under a law repealed in 1994 is making his emotional plea for freedom from behind bars.
Speaking with Paige Spears, he makes one thing clear: He is a felon, who deserved to go to jail for a crime he committed in the late 80s.
The problem keeping him there is a loophole in a since-repealed law, and no one seems to know how to fix it.
For the last 34 years, Paige Spears has called the Missouri Department of Corrections home.
"I'm sentenced here for me to correct the things that I did wrong in my life,” said Paige Spears.
"You were a stickup man?” asked KSDK reporter Holden Kurwicki.
"Yes,” said Spears. “I think what led me back to prison each time was greed and selfishness."
In 1988, Spears was caught robbing a liquor store along Airport Road in Ferguson.
"First they offered me 25 years, then 18, and the last offer was 13 years,” said Spears. “You have a lot of guys who have taken lives who do 15 to 20 years and they're back on the streets. When my sentence was read off and they told me I had life plus 30 years I was blown away by that. I take full responsibility for the crime I committed, but I didn't hurt anybody."
A clerical error put Spears' sentence at 1001 years.
"Prison is pure hell,” said Spears.
However, Spears hasn't sat idly inside his cell. Instead, he's using his time to complete seemingly every program offered in prison.
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"I've been facilitating programs, writing programs, and just educating inmates along the way,” said Spears. “Now, I actually teach a program here called 'Transitional Training' and its re-entry program."
In 1994, Missouri changed its definition of life to 30 years.
Since the legislature didn’t make the updated law retroactive, Spears will remain locked up for at least 40 years, meaning he won't be eligible for parole until 2028.
"I just pray that Wesley Bell and Hon. Stanley Wallace sit down and say enough is enough,” said Spears.
St. Louis Co. Prosecutor Wesley Bell provided KSDK with a statement on Spears' situation: "Though Mr. Spears committed serious crimes decades ago, the multiple life sentences he received is disproportionate to his crimes. Since his conviction for robbery in 1988, a robbery where no one was injured, Mr. Spears has completed every educational and rehabilitative program offered by the Missouri Department of Corrections. He teaches younger inmates. He has a family that has supported him and is committed to continuing to do so. Moreover, in 1994, the Missouri Legislature changed the parole law for the life imprisonment of someone like Mr. Spears. With this change, anyone convicted of the same crime as Mr. Spears after 1994 would be released from prison by now.
Our office has no authority at this point in the justice process to effectuate the release of Mr. Spears. However, we believe Mr. Spears provides an example of someone who can be rehabilitated and deserves a second chance. His release would be a benefit to our community as opposed to a threat. He has paid his debt to society, yet remains incarcerated as a result of a law since repealed. Under these circumstances, Mr. Spears should be released."
"Clearly they see that I deserve to be out of prison,” said Spears. “A lot of staff in the facility feels that I need to be out of prison. I think somebody needs to step up and do something about that."
"What's to stop you from going back to that life if you are released,” asked Kurwicki.
"Being in my 60s, I think that I've aged out of my criminality,” said Spears. “To commit another crime and get sent back to prison would be a death sentence. I'm nothing like I was in my 20s."
Paige Spears will have a writ of habeas corpus hearing on Dec. 8 at 10 a.m. in the circuit court.
Spears said if he is released, he hopes to work as a photographer and looks forward to using a cell phone for the first time.