Jay-Z & Team Roc Calls Out Feds For Denying Inmate Release Over Taking Food From Mess Hall

Jay-Z & Team Roc Calls Out Feds For Denying Inmate Release Over Taking Food From Mess Hall

It looks like Jay-Z is being added to the list of celebrities who are lending a hand in hopes of bettering the U.S. justice system, whether it be to help aid in prison reform or help bring attention to the injustices and corruption that face our system. The New York rapper has been working alongside his brand, Team Roc to help overturn unjust prison sentences. Team Roc is a division of Jay-Z’s Roc Nation. It focuses on raising awareness around socio-political injustices that continue to affect the community.

Jay-Z is currently seeking a reduced sentence for a man named Valon Vailes. Vailes reportedly reached out to the rapper last year to help get his sentence reduced, but in new court documents, the feds are refusing because of a leftover prison meal.

Valon Vailes

According to reports, Vailes was convicted in 2007 and is serving a 20-year prison sentence for intent to distribute more than a ton of marijuana. Team Roc attorney Alex Spiro says Vailes meets the requirements for a compassionate early release, but court documents reveal that federal prosecutors won’t allow it because Vailes allegedly snuck leftover chicken from the prison mess hall to his cell. Court docs also claim that Vailes is also being dinged for for simply using a piece of his prison uniform as workout equipment.

Jay-Z and Team Roc feel that the federal prosecutors are being unfair because Valon Vailes, who is now 56, has been a model inmate, successfully earning his GED while in prison. Sadly, he has a “mentally ill” brother at home who needs a caretaker. Vailes’ mother had been taking care of the brother, but she died in 2020.

In his letter to Jay-Z, Vailes discussed his frustration with the judicial system, more specifically, watching corporations and individuals make billions off legalized marijuana, while he rots in prison over it. Team Roc attorney Alex Spiro wants a federal judge to reduce Vailes’ sentence to time served, and release him as soon as possible.

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[Source: 1, 2]