Tuesday, November 15, 2022

Jesse Jackson's half-brother, Noah Robinson, released from prison, he was serving a life term

Here's a story, from the Chicago Sun-Times, that isn't getting the attention it deserves. Yes, Robinson, 80, was released under a bill, the First Step Act, that was signed into law by Donald Trump. But I believe Robinson should remain locked up--ordering a contract killing is not a crime of passion. 

More from the Sun-Times:

Noah Robinson Jr., an Ivy League-educated millionaire businessman with fast-food restaurants, was convicted of hiring hit men from Chicago’s notorious El Rukn street gang to kill a boyhood friend, Leroy "Hambone" Barber, after they got into a fistfight in South Carolina, where they’d grown up.

A woman who witnessed the killing was wounded in a later hit that Robinson ordered, and he ordered another hit that wasn’t carried out, prosecutors said. Robinson also was accused of helping El Rukn members connect with East Coast cocaine and heroin suppliers. 

Robinson was taken into federal custody in 1989 and sentenced to life in prison, but his 1991 conviction was overturned after prosecutors were accused of misconduct. He was retried in 1996 and sentenced to life in prison — a sentence that has been commuted to time served. 

He was released last month. Robinson had asked in 2020 for a "compassionate release" under the First Step Act signed into law by former President Donald Trump in 2018.
Prosecutors opposed freeing Robinson.

Two other members of Jesse Jackson's family have served time in federal prison. Former US Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr was convicted of financial irregularities involving his campaign fund. His then wife, Sandi, was convicted on tax charges. She was a Chicago alderman. Oh, they weren't called alderpersons then. 

Last week Jonathan Jackson, another son of Jesse Sr, was elected to the US House, representing a Chicago district. He'll fill the seat currently held by Bobby Rush.


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