While the Uhuru Movement achieved victory in court on the main charge of “acting as Russian agents without notifying the US government,” the jury did find them guilty on the lesser charge of “conspiracy against the United State government.” This mixed verdict is self-contradictory and makes no sense. How can you be guilty of conspiracy to commit something that your sentencing in October shows you are innocent of committing? Nevertheless, this lesser charge carries a possible sentence of up to 5 years in prison. But, since this law is rarely ever used, there are no precedents of guidelines as to what the actual sentence should be. It is totally at the discretion of the judge. So, the Uhuru movement is calling upon supporters and well-wishers around the country to submit character letters for each of the Uhuru 3 for their lawyers to submit to the judge, petitioning him for leniency.

The Center for Political Innovation energetically endorses this effort and calls upon all of our members and supporters to submit their own letters. Guidelines, sample letters, and a submission tool can be found at https://handsoffuhuru.org/letters/ . Hopefully, the conviction will be appealed and overturned, but the purpose of these letters is not to re-argue the case or to dispute the verdict. The purpose of these particular letters is to talk about the character of the Uhuru 3 and about the important life-saving work that they are doing in their community, and to appeal to the judge for leniency in sentencing so that these individuals are free to continue that live-saving work. The sentencing is scheduled for November 25th, 2024, and the Uhuru Movement is calling for these letters to be submitted by October 15th. Please click on the link and use the webpage to compose and send a letter for Chairman Yeshitela, a letter for Penny Hess, and a letter for Jesse Nevel as soon as possible! Thank you!