WEBVTT - Released To Die: Episode 1 0:00:01.120 --> 0:00:05.080 Hey, party people, It's Rosie Perez. If you like sasa 0:00:05.160 --> 0:00:08.039 as much as I do, I hope you'll join me 0:00:08.320 --> 0:00:13.920 in person. At WNYC. We're celebrating a new podcast that 0:00:13.960 --> 0:00:17.920 goes deep into the history of salsa in Nueva York. 0:00:18.360 --> 0:00:21.640 We'll talk about the music and get a special live 0:00:21.720 --> 0:00:26.440 performance from two time Latin Grammy winner Ella Brick. June thirtieth. 0:00:26.600 --> 0:00:38.640 Tickets at WNYC dot org, slash events. 0:00:39.120 --> 0:00:43.000 Hello Slave, Yes, I was in a meeting. 0:00:43.000 --> 0:00:43.920 I just read here text. 0:00:45.040 --> 0:00:49.680 It is January ninth, twenty twenty six, and producer Julita 0:00:49.720 --> 0:00:52.560 Martinelli steps out of a meeting to answer a call. 0:00:53.240 --> 0:00:54.840 He he is getting out today. 0:00:55.080 --> 0:00:58.960 I'm heading right there to the nursing home right now. 0:00:59.000 --> 0:01:01.880 It's a call that we we've been waiting for for 0:01:02.000 --> 0:01:02.920 a long time. 0:01:03.360 --> 0:01:05.640 As we speak, they turned for him out now. 0:01:06.480 --> 0:01:09.240 Then the reason they didn't tell. 0:01:09.160 --> 0:01:12.119 Is yesterday because the policies they can tell you when 0:01:12.160 --> 0:01:12.680 they're coming on. 0:01:13.000 --> 0:01:17.000 Marieta's on the phone with Swave, a former juvenile lifer 0:01:17.280 --> 0:01:20.720 and the subject of our Pulitzer Prize winning podcast about 0:01:20.760 --> 0:01:25.559 life after incarceration. I met Swave over thirty years ago 0:01:25.880 --> 0:01:28.640 and stayed in touch with him for decades while he 0:01:28.720 --> 0:01:33.120 was in prison. Then in our podcast Swave, we documented 0:01:33.120 --> 0:01:37.920 his release in twenty seventeen and his reentry. Rita was 0:01:37.959 --> 0:01:41.319 a producer and host of the second season of the podcast. 0:01:42.360 --> 0:01:45.880 In our second season, we met Suave's mentor and father 0:01:46.000 --> 0:01:50.960 figure in prison, a man in his nineties named Frank Ross. 0:01:52.120 --> 0:01:54.920 Frank was awaiting a decision that could grant him his 0:01:55.080 --> 0:02:05.600 release from prison, and today there was finally news. 0:02:02.280 --> 0:02:03.960 He has been turned for as we. 0:02:03.960 --> 0:02:06.560 Speak, Okay, I'm gonna I'm trying to find a flight 0:02:07.000 --> 0:02:11.320 tonight as soon as possible. How do you feel and emotional? 0:02:11.880 --> 0:02:13.639 I mean, here's that man been in prison. 0:02:14.400 --> 0:02:29.160 Yeah, after nearly fifty years behind bars, Frank Ross was free. 0:02:29.880 --> 0:02:34.080 There were no friends or family waiting outside the prison gates. 0:02:34.639 --> 0:02:37.680 Frank was transferred alone in a gourney. 0:02:38.639 --> 0:02:43.919 That's because Frank is being released under Pennsylvania's Compassionate Release Statute, 0:02:44.360 --> 0:02:47.920 also known as a medical transfer. That's a law that 0:02:47.960 --> 0:02:52.120 creates a pathway for seriously ill people in prison to 0:02:52.200 --> 0:02:55.800 be released to seek out better healthcare on the outside. 0:02:56.560 --> 0:03:01.160 Frank has been battling cancer for years. He is now terminal. 0:03:01.720 --> 0:03:05.239 Do you remember when the only big weight you felt 0:03:05.240 --> 0:03:09.240 on your back was that you couldn't do anything for him. 0:03:09.440 --> 0:03:13.840 That for years, Suave told me about the guilt and 0:03:13.880 --> 0:03:18.280 the regret that he felt at leaving Frank alone inside. 0:03:18.600 --> 0:03:22.800 After he was released from prison, Frank taught Suave how 0:03:22.880 --> 0:03:26.720 to read and write, he mentored, and he fathered him 0:03:26.919 --> 0:03:31.000 along with hundreds of other young men in prison in exchange. 0:03:31.360 --> 0:03:34.280 Suave always thought that he would help care for Frank 0:03:34.720 --> 0:03:37.720 in his final days when they were both in prison. 0:03:38.480 --> 0:03:43.480 Yeah, oh, I can't believe it. Okay, well this took 0:03:43.520 --> 0:03:46.280 me totally my surprise, but I'm happy. I'm happy for you. 0:03:47.080 --> 0:03:50.640 Now Suave could repay the man who had given him 0:03:50.680 --> 0:03:54.680 so much, and Frank Ross would just maybe have an 0:03:54.680 --> 0:04:00.680 opportunity for a dignified death on the outside, maybe because 0:04:00.760 --> 0:04:04.920 nothing in the prison system is ever predictable or simple. 0:04:10.360 --> 0:04:14.040 From Futuro Media, It's Latino USA. I'm Maria jo Josa 0:04:14.360 --> 0:04:20.320 Today Released to Die Part one. In this three episode 0:04:20.440 --> 0:04:24.440 mini series, we're going to follow the story of Frank Ross. 0:04:24.760 --> 0:04:27.839 He's a ninety three year old man sentenced to die 0:04:27.920 --> 0:04:30.599 in prison, and we're going to follow his journey to 0:04:30.640 --> 0:04:35.760 the outside through something known as compassionate release. Frank's case 0:04:35.839 --> 0:04:39.680 highlights one of the fastest growing trends in incarceration in 0:04:39.720 --> 0:04:44.080 the United States. It's something experts called the grain of 0:04:44.120 --> 0:04:47.560 American prisons. We will also take a deep dive into 0:04:47.560 --> 0:04:53.080 Pennsylvania's Compassionate Release program, how healthcare inside prisons is failing 0:04:53.360 --> 0:04:56.480 older people, and what it means to have a chance 0:04:56.839 --> 0:05:03.400 to die free. Between two thousand and one and twenty eighteen, 0:05:03.760 --> 0:05:07.799 more than thirty thousand people aged fifty five or older 0:05:08.320 --> 0:05:13.400 died in prison. Experts say those numbers are on the rise. 0:05:14.680 --> 0:05:19.040 Never have there been so many older people behind bars, 0:05:19.480 --> 0:05:23.480 and the number is steadily rising. By twenty thirty, they 0:05:23.520 --> 0:05:26.440 will be one third of the prison population. 0:05:27.480 --> 0:05:31.960 The reason harsh sentencing practices that started in the seventies 0:05:32.279 --> 0:05:36.599 and peaked through the eighties and nineties to today. Data 0:05:36.680 --> 0:05:39.960 shows that this led to more people than ever serving 0:05:40.080 --> 0:05:45.360 long sentences, including life without parole. And you've probably heard 0:05:45.400 --> 0:05:48.080 the term mandatory minimums. 0:05:48.800 --> 0:05:52.159 Coupled with three strike laws and other tough on crime 0:05:52.200 --> 0:05:56.360 policies that meant more people going to prison and for 0:05:56.400 --> 0:06:01.160 longer periods of time. Prison populations exploded, loaded with vast 0:06:01.320 --> 0:06:05.680 racial discrepancies and sentencing, and with so many life sentences 0:06:05.800 --> 0:06:08.839 or decades long sentences. It was only a matter of 0:06:08.880 --> 0:06:12.760 time until those people became older and sicker, with prisons 0:06:12.880 --> 0:06:14.880 unable to meet their healthcare needs. 0:06:15.800 --> 0:06:19.120 That's part of the reason why almost every state and 0:06:19.240 --> 0:06:24.080 the federal prison system have some kind of compassionate release policy. 0:06:24.600 --> 0:06:27.359 It's a way to grant early release from prison to 0:06:27.560 --> 0:06:32.120 sick or elderly incarcerated individuals who have no other real 0:06:32.200 --> 0:06:37.480 avenue within the court system. In Pennsylvania prisons were Frank Ross's, 0:06:37.680 --> 0:06:41.800 an incarcerated person may petition the court for a temporary 0:06:41.920 --> 0:06:46.880 transfer to either a hospital, a long term facility, or hospice. 0:06:47.680 --> 0:06:51.000 In order to be considered someone like Frank must meet 0:06:51.120 --> 0:06:56.520 seven different parameters. Most importantly, they must be seriously ill 0:06:57.000 --> 0:06:59.560 and expected to have less than a year to live, 0:07:00.120 --> 0:07:03.039 and be able to prove that their healthcare needs are 0:07:03.080 --> 0:07:07.800 better met on the outside. If they were to be 0:07:07.960 --> 0:07:11.720 cured of their terminal illness on the outside, they could 0:07:11.800 --> 0:07:13.040 be returned to prison. 0:07:16.880 --> 0:07:20.400 Compassionate release is for people who know that they're going 0:07:20.520 --> 0:07:24.000 to die. The question is will they get to die 0:07:24.120 --> 0:07:28.640 on the outside, And that is all Frank Ross hopes for. 0:07:34.000 --> 0:07:35.960 Were that's going to pick up the story from here. 0:07:38.280 --> 0:07:41.600 The day of Frank's release, Suave rushes to the healthcare 0:07:41.680 --> 0:07:46.120 facility for seniors where he's been transferred. Frank is already there, 0:07:46.680 --> 0:07:50.640 in a shared room, separated by a flimsy curtain surrounded 0:07:50.640 --> 0:07:57.520 by bare white walls. He texts me to FaceTime him. Yes, Hi, okay, Hi, 0:07:57.640 --> 0:08:01.800 mister Ross. Congratulations. 0:08:02.880 --> 0:08:04.600 You don't have to do that, just talk to the phone. 0:08:05.720 --> 0:08:11.640 The first time he held a cell phone. Yeah, oh wow, woa. 0:08:11.960 --> 0:08:16.920 Technology has really changed. Frank tries to put the video 0:08:17.040 --> 0:08:20.160 call on his ear. He's never held a cell phone. 0:08:20.440 --> 0:08:23.960 He was convicted in nineteen eighty and was always kind 0:08:23.960 --> 0:08:26.880 of an old school guy in prison. He never even 0:08:26.960 --> 0:08:32.679 got a tablet. Hi, mister Ross, how are you? Congratulations? 0:08:33.880 --> 0:08:37.640 No good picture that I mean better? 0:08:38.000 --> 0:08:40.000 Don't tell really. 0:08:41.440 --> 0:08:42.880 With it. 0:08:43.400 --> 0:08:47.040 On his first day out of prison, Frank seems primarily 0:08:47.120 --> 0:08:50.640 occupied with swab his weight. I mean, he calls Swave 0:08:50.800 --> 0:08:54.040 his son. After all, he looks good, right, How do 0:08:54.120 --> 0:08:55.080 you feel. 0:08:56.920 --> 0:08:58.880 Well? Right now? 0:08:59.520 --> 0:08:59.760 Now? 0:09:00.120 --> 0:09:04.199 Frank is hard to understand. He's ninety three, he's lost 0:09:04.240 --> 0:09:08.960 his teeth, and he doesn't have dentures. Besides the ravages 0:09:09.040 --> 0:09:13.360 of cancer, he's also struggling with cognitive decline due to 0:09:13.400 --> 0:09:17.160 the mania. Over the last few years in prison, he 0:09:17.320 --> 0:09:21.920 was mostly bedridden, sometimes in a wheelchair, and fully dependent 0:09:22.000 --> 0:09:28.760 on other incarcerated men to care for him. I'm very 0:09:28.800 --> 0:09:32.000 happy because of your news. 0:09:32.520 --> 0:09:32.880 I am. 0:09:33.160 --> 0:09:35.920 Yes, I'm getting on a plane tonight so I can 0:09:35.920 --> 0:09:41.720 see you tomorrow morning. Before we hang up the phone, 0:09:42.040 --> 0:09:45.520 Frank lays down his chief interest in letting us in 0:09:45.600 --> 0:09:48.719 to make this series. He's hoping it will help him 0:09:48.720 --> 0:09:50.760 bring some attention to his writing. 0:09:51.240 --> 0:09:53.200 Get him an agent, because he's trying to get some 0:09:53.280 --> 0:09:55.719 of his workout. You have your boxes and stuff, but 0:09:55.800 --> 0:09:58.000 you're yes, of course, we're going to try. 0:09:57.880 --> 0:09:58.600 To get to an agent. 0:10:00.160 --> 0:10:03.120 Frank hopes to get more of his writing published before 0:10:03.120 --> 0:10:07.720 he dies. The only item Frank insisted on bringing with 0:10:07.840 --> 0:10:11.240 him from his prison cell was a box filled with 0:10:11.400 --> 0:10:17.000 stories nearly five decades of writing. To understand who Frank 0:10:17.160 --> 0:10:21.000 is as a person, you have to understand that, above all, 0:10:21.240 --> 0:10:24.920 he is a writer, and writers dream of sharing their 0:10:25.000 --> 0:10:30.600 love affords. That's how Suave and Frank crossed paths three 0:10:30.640 --> 0:10:35.520 decades ago at a maximum security prison in Philadelphia. Suave 0:10:35.800 --> 0:10:38.560 was in his early twenties and Frank was in his 0:10:38.720 --> 0:10:42.520 late fifties. We actually told this story at length in 0:10:42.559 --> 0:10:45.960 an episode of Suave season two, but I'll give you 0:10:46.000 --> 0:10:46.520 a summary. 0:10:48.200 --> 0:10:50.559 Hey, Frank, what's going on, buddy. 0:10:50.600 --> 0:10:53.640 This is a phone call between Suave and Frank from 0:10:53.679 --> 0:10:56.720 twenty twenty three, when Frank was still in prison. 0:10:57.600 --> 0:11:01.480 I'm over here, man, I'm away there telling my people 0:11:02.000 --> 0:11:04.800 how much you showed me when I was in prison? 0:11:04.880 --> 0:11:05.080 Right? 0:11:05.440 --> 0:11:06.679 And what did you do? 0:11:07.040 --> 0:11:07.880 I learned how to do. 0:11:10.000 --> 0:11:11.680 How many screenplayers have you written? 0:11:11.840 --> 0:11:12.440 Oh? 0:11:12.559 --> 0:11:19.480 I got forty five? Now and I got. 0:11:17.760 --> 0:11:22.600 Forty five screenplays and ninety short stories. A portion of 0:11:22.640 --> 0:11:27.480 it was published. Frank was profiled in newspapers decades ago. 0:11:28.000 --> 0:11:30.440 Some of his books are still out there for purchase. 0:11:31.320 --> 0:11:34.560 And more than a writer, Frank was a teacher. 0:11:35.240 --> 0:11:37.640 There was hundreds, if not thousands of people in the 0:11:37.720 --> 0:11:41.559 DC that he showed how to read and write, and I. 0:11:41.600 --> 0:11:42.400 Was one of them. 0:11:42.640 --> 0:11:46.280 Frank was an old head, an old timer, and someone 0:11:46.280 --> 0:11:50.720 who commanded respect. Saba says. Frank didn't really get involved 0:11:50.720 --> 0:11:54.440 in prison politics. He never got in trouble, and he 0:11:54.600 --> 0:11:58.520 minded his own business. When he took a liking to someone, though, 0:11:59.000 --> 0:12:01.719 he approached them with a curious proposition. 0:12:02.400 --> 0:12:05.400 He was one of the dudes that he had enough 0:12:05.440 --> 0:12:08.920 heart to step to me. I guess he's like, hey, 0:12:09.000 --> 0:12:11.199 young boy, let me talk to you. And I used 0:12:11.200 --> 0:12:13.040 to tell him, look, man, what can you get for me? 0:12:13.160 --> 0:12:13.319 Right? 0:12:14.920 --> 0:12:16.439 I got some pen and paper for you. 0:12:17.920 --> 0:12:22.319 That's how he and Swave became close. Swavee was illiterate, 0:12:22.640 --> 0:12:26.160 but over time and under a teacher like Frank, Swave 0:12:26.360 --> 0:12:29.400 learned how to read and write. Frank then encouraged him 0:12:29.480 --> 0:12:33.559 to pursue an education, and Suave eventually graduated with a 0:12:33.640 --> 0:12:38.920 bachelor's within prison walls. Frank did the same for countless others. 0:12:41.440 --> 0:12:44.720 Over time, Swavi learned that Frank had made a promise 0:12:45.200 --> 0:12:48.520 to try and atone for his mistakes and to help others. 0:12:49.120 --> 0:12:52.040 Here's another old phone call with Frank when he was 0:12:52.080 --> 0:12:52.560 in prison. 0:12:53.120 --> 0:13:01.199 I've been almost. 0:13:00.000 --> 0:13:03.400 In his late forties. Frank was convicted of killing a man. 0:13:04.080 --> 0:13:07.120 Until then, he had never been in trouble. He was 0:13:07.160 --> 0:13:11.160 a war veteran. He had a business, a wife and kids. 0:13:12.000 --> 0:13:15.080 I used to call him the late criminal family man, 0:13:16.480 --> 0:13:22.120 ron kids. First time arrested in his life. 0:13:21.480 --> 0:13:25.040 Frank doesn't claim to be innocent. He accepted his life 0:13:25.120 --> 0:13:28.800 sentence and in prison put the old version of himself away. 0:13:29.520 --> 0:13:33.079 He refused visits, he asked his family to move on, 0:13:33.600 --> 0:13:38.080 and spent nearly his entire time in prison completely alone, 0:13:38.920 --> 0:13:42.040 except for the young man that he took under his wing. 0:13:43.520 --> 0:13:46.480 Now years later, as I prepare to go meet him 0:13:46.480 --> 0:13:49.400 in person for the first time, I think about a 0:13:49.440 --> 0:13:52.160 conversation I had with Frank over the phone as he 0:13:52.240 --> 0:13:55.600 waited for his compassionate release application to be reviewed. 0:13:56.200 --> 0:13:59.000 In my comment, but I didn't say I've learned to 0:13:59.200 --> 0:14:01.400 like to come home. I don't think you ever do 0:14:02.040 --> 0:14:06.679 if you check your right life. But I asked, I 0:14:06.800 --> 0:14:07.880 can happen no more. 0:14:08.559 --> 0:14:11.760 Frank said he would never earn the right to come home. 0:14:12.320 --> 0:14:20.400 He took someone's life. All he was asking for was mercy. 0:14:22.720 --> 0:14:24.840 When we come back, we learn more about what it 0:14:24.920 --> 0:14:28.880 means to receive compassionate release, and we hear about Frank's 0:14:29.000 --> 0:14:32.800 challenges of trying to start over even though he's terminally ill. 0:14:33.400 --> 0:14:56.920 Stay with us was yeah, he was killing that cat. 0:14:57.000 --> 0:15:03.320 Checking Canal and Spotify, the La Mesa Expertos an acilty 0:15:04.120 --> 0:15:12.400 los Angos universo conicolos program as, the Toya Burrido and 0:15:12.520 --> 0:15:17.320 No projected the Frank Cooliwood tambienus Monolos as he Scucios 0:15:17.360 --> 0:15:18.480 la Is and Spotify. 0:15:27.280 --> 0:15:30.640 Hey, we're back. Before the break, we learned about Frank 0:15:30.760 --> 0:15:33.880 Ross's life, how he ended up in prison, and the 0:15:34.080 --> 0:15:38.560 challenges of his release under Pennsylvania's Compassionate Release law. Senior 0:15:38.600 --> 0:15:41.240 producer Julia Ta Martinelli is going to continue the story 0:15:41.280 --> 0:15:41.600 from here. 0:15:43.240 --> 0:15:46.920 The day after Frank is released, I meet Suave outside 0:15:46.960 --> 0:15:50.160 Frank's store on the fourth floor of a senior living 0:15:50.280 --> 0:15:54.440 facility in Philly. We make our way into the room. 0:15:55.360 --> 0:15:59.960 Frank looks frail, much older than I'd imagined his were 0:16:00.000 --> 0:16:04.120 bring an unfastened hospital gown that's fallen down to his stomach. 0:16:04.920 --> 0:16:09.760 He's hooked to an oxygen tank and fast asleep. Swavey 0:16:09.840 --> 0:16:12.560 wakes him gently, holding out the balloons. 0:16:13.640 --> 0:16:15.040 I know it's not. I know it's not. 0:16:15.120 --> 0:16:17.800 The next week I have to take care of your pop, 0:16:18.840 --> 0:16:19.480 had to take. 0:16:19.400 --> 0:16:19.720 Care of you. 0:16:20.400 --> 0:16:23.320 Swavey lays out a pint of chocolate ice cream, a 0:16:23.440 --> 0:16:26.720 slice of chocolate cake, cookies, and other goodies. 0:16:28.000 --> 0:16:29.200 So what I'm going to do. 0:16:30.120 --> 0:16:34.280 We're gonna say, Havy herb day to you? 0:16:35.000 --> 0:16:37.880 Do you have herbday? 0:16:38.360 --> 0:16:39.720 Do you new? 0:16:39.920 --> 0:16:42.280 Happy Birthday, Dear Frank. 0:16:42.800 --> 0:16:45.840 Two Freedom, Happy birthday to. 0:16:46.040 --> 0:16:51.960 You, Happy birthday. Frank smiles through the celebration, but it 0:16:52.120 --> 0:16:57.440 soon becomes clear that he's not doing well. It's at 0:16:57.560 --> 0:17:01.200 that moment that I noticed how swollen and Frank's legs are. 0:17:02.080 --> 0:17:06.320 It looks really painful, and as the sheet slide, I 0:17:06.440 --> 0:17:10.520 see a palm sized ankle monitor snapped tightly around his ankle, 0:17:11.119 --> 0:17:15.040 a mandatory condition for his release, you know, in case 0:17:15.080 --> 0:17:17.960 he runs away. This man who can't walk on his 0:17:18.119 --> 0:17:24.480 own or get out of bed. It's not long before 0:17:24.680 --> 0:17:26.240 visitors start rolling in. 0:17:29.640 --> 0:17:30.040 Bross. 0:17:30.640 --> 0:17:34.560 Frank's face lights up, first his sister in law, and 0:17:34.720 --> 0:17:38.800 then his friend Mohammed. They spent decades together in prison. 0:17:39.480 --> 0:17:42.480 Mohammed is eighty four, out for a year now after 0:17:42.600 --> 0:17:46.160 securing his own release under commutation from the governor. 0:17:49.160 --> 0:17:55.000 Thank you, thank you, hey man, it's my pleasure time. 0:17:55.520 --> 0:17:56.320 Hey you look good. 0:17:56.760 --> 0:18:02.240 Listen manabe call I said, I sat up here. 0:18:02.359 --> 0:18:03.360 I think you've kind of bath. 0:18:03.680 --> 0:18:04.960 People are able to see you today. 0:18:06.320 --> 0:18:10.480 He's right. Within a few minutes, Frank's bed is surrounded. 0:18:11.080 --> 0:18:14.760 I count four former lifers in the room, men who 0:18:14.880 --> 0:18:17.880 all were one sentence to life in prison and thought 0:18:17.920 --> 0:18:22.520 that they would grow old and die inside together here free, 0:18:23.040 --> 0:18:29.080 eating chocolate cake, sharing war stories, reminiscing silly things like 0:18:29.359 --> 0:18:32.440 who still owes who money for commissary ice cream? 0:18:32.960 --> 0:18:36.880 He always minded from the Iceland and mumble, I don't 0:18:36.920 --> 0:18:42.959 know what ice s creaming behind. I don't know how 0:18:43.080 --> 0:18:45.240 you feel about You're a friend when. 0:18:45.880 --> 0:18:46.920 On the line. 0:18:47.880 --> 0:18:51.280 At some point, Swaby walks off and stands by the door. 0:18:52.440 --> 0:18:55.280 I see him discreetly wipe his eyes with his sleeve. 0:18:56.720 --> 0:19:03.760 How do you feel at him, to see him smile 0:19:04.600 --> 0:19:08.000 and not and not have to worry about counttown. I 0:19:08.119 --> 0:19:10.639 just think that for us, this is what it is 0:19:10.680 --> 0:19:13.840 all about, changing policies and prinking people. 0:19:17.440 --> 0:19:20.960 Good to see you again, he might get out of 0:19:20.960 --> 0:19:23.560 the way. I step out of the room to get 0:19:23.600 --> 0:19:27.920 the family privacy as Frank meets nieces and nephews and 0:19:28.080 --> 0:19:29.960 other family for the first time. 0:19:34.320 --> 0:19:35.480 That's right, I. 0:19:39.400 --> 0:19:40.280 Heard so much about. 0:19:46.320 --> 0:19:49.800 On the way out, Swabe tells me that he feels overwhelmed. 0:19:50.400 --> 0:19:53.240 He says he's worried about how frail Frank looks. 0:19:53.960 --> 0:19:58.600 His compassionate relea stuff to me is bullshit, fully bullshit, 0:19:59.640 --> 0:20:03.560 because can't remember where he's at, sitting in the bed 0:20:04.480 --> 0:20:08.400 with an ankle minor of this bab you call that compassionate. 0:20:08.840 --> 0:20:11.760 First of all, I want to say I am extremely 0:20:12.440 --> 0:20:18.200 happy that somebody decided enough, it's enough, right, But now 0:20:18.840 --> 0:20:23.000 I'm also extremely mad that this man should have been 0:20:23.080 --> 0:20:26.200 released ten years ago when he first got cancered. 0:20:27.760 --> 0:20:32.399 The thing is, legally, Frank couldn't be considered for compassionate 0:20:32.520 --> 0:20:37.040 release any earlier, even though he's had a cancer diagnosis 0:20:37.280 --> 0:20:41.640 for years. Frank is representative of an issue that many 0:20:41.760 --> 0:20:46.480 others are also facing. There are currently more than ten 0:20:46.600 --> 0:20:52.119 thousand people that are considered senior citizens in Pennsylvania prisons today. 0:20:52.920 --> 0:20:55.760 While there aren't public numbers on how many of those 0:20:55.840 --> 0:20:59.760 are ill and have also submitted petitions for compassionate release, 0:21:00.359 --> 0:21:03.199 we do know that only fifty four people have been 0:21:03.280 --> 0:21:06.720 granted compassionate release over the last fifteen years. 0:21:15.520 --> 0:21:18.760 Advocates say the problem is in how the compassionate Release 0:21:18.800 --> 0:21:22.760 Statute is written. While it's meant to remedy the crisis 0:21:23.240 --> 0:21:27.000 of those ag behind bars, it falls short of actually 0:21:27.119 --> 0:21:30.439 being able to assist many people because of the built 0:21:30.480 --> 0:21:36.000 in requirement for their deaths to be imminent and in 0:21:36.080 --> 0:21:38.680 the midst of their illness. They also have to be 0:21:38.760 --> 0:21:40.960 able to find a lawyer to take on their case. 0:21:42.080 --> 0:21:44.720 The reality is that by the time someone like Frank 0:21:44.840 --> 0:21:49.360 reaches this age, their closest family members have often already 0:21:49.480 --> 0:21:53.520 died or those connections to the outside world have faded 0:21:53.720 --> 0:21:54.560 over the decades. 0:21:55.600 --> 0:21:59.200 Not to mention that if, like Frank, they're lucky enough 0:21:59.320 --> 0:22:03.480 to be granted release, they must remain under constant monitoring. 0:22:04.000 --> 0:22:08.320 That means wearing a heavy and sometimes painful GPS tracker 0:22:08.680 --> 0:22:11.159 on their body twenty four to seven. 0:22:12.160 --> 0:22:16.160 And remember, they can't seek out healthcare to get better. 0:22:16.880 --> 0:22:19.800 If they were to be cured of their illness, they 0:22:19.920 --> 0:22:23.959 could be sent back to prison. So people like Swave, 0:22:24.359 --> 0:22:28.520 lawyers and activists in Pennsylvania have long asked, where's the 0:22:28.560 --> 0:22:29.760 compassion in that. 0:22:36.520 --> 0:23:05.000 We'll be right back. Hey, we're back. Where are we going? 0:23:05.720 --> 0:23:08.760 So we're in Philly now, I'm looking at I think 0:23:08.920 --> 0:23:13.000 thirtieth Street station. We're in a car on our way 0:23:13.280 --> 0:23:15.880 to Germantown, which is a little bit in the suburbs. 0:23:16.280 --> 0:23:19.600 A few weeks later, we're in Philly again, this time 0:23:19.920 --> 0:23:24.480 with Maria. She's known Suavet since ninety three, and while 0:23:24.520 --> 0:23:27.760 he was in prison, she often heard Suavet talk about 0:23:27.840 --> 0:23:28.840 Frank on the phone. 0:23:29.320 --> 0:23:33.200 And yeah, the team is reunited. Suave, will you tell 0:23:33.240 --> 0:23:37.720 me on our way to meet Frank Ross? It's I'm 0:23:37.920 --> 0:23:41.240 just I'm so overwhelmed because it's real life. 0:23:42.560 --> 0:23:46.000 Suave has been spending nearly all of his time outside 0:23:46.040 --> 0:23:47.200 of work with Frank. 0:23:47.560 --> 0:23:49.920 I just stay there all night, hang out because it's 0:23:49.920 --> 0:23:53.280 twenty four hours a day visits. So how am I 0:23:53.480 --> 0:23:56.760 just going at six o' five that night, leave at 0:23:56.840 --> 0:24:00.600 four in the morning, come back at eight and he 0:24:00.680 --> 0:24:03.520 probably wouldn't even know I'm gone because by the time 0:24:03.560 --> 0:24:04.560 he wake up, he see me. 0:24:04.880 --> 0:24:07.000 I always tell people what I'm doing for Frank Ross 0:24:07.119 --> 0:24:08.720 is what I couldn't do for my mother when she 0:24:08.840 --> 0:24:11.439 was on hot that bad, which is take care of her. 0:24:12.000 --> 0:24:15.080 Swaba's mother died before he was released from prison. 0:24:15.280 --> 0:24:16.760 I mean, I would want somebody to do that for 0:24:16.920 --> 0:24:19.240 me if I was in my dying bed. So this 0:24:19.400 --> 0:24:21.280 is what I should have been doing, you know. So 0:24:21.400 --> 0:24:23.440 I'm just doing it for Frank. 0:24:26.880 --> 0:24:30.680 When we arrive, Frank is wearing a sweater, sweatpants, and 0:24:30.800 --> 0:24:34.760 tennis shoes. He's seated up in his chair, hair combed, 0:24:35.040 --> 0:24:36.280 waiting for his visitors. 0:24:37.320 --> 0:24:38.000 How are you. 0:24:40.040 --> 0:24:43.080 To see you, mister n Look at you with your lunch. 0:24:46.600 --> 0:24:47.200 How you doing? 0:24:51.480 --> 0:24:53.840 You look good? I didn't even recognize you when you 0:24:53.920 --> 0:24:57.919 want in. Swaby walks over to Frank and hands him 0:24:57.920 --> 0:25:02.680 a folder. It's filled with hypewritten pages, short stories that 0:25:02.840 --> 0:25:05.679 Frank once mailed to suave It while he was in prison. 0:25:07.600 --> 0:25:08.840 We'll show you something. 0:25:12.480 --> 0:25:15.440 I got it, they talked quietly as they look through 0:25:15.480 --> 0:25:16.000 the pages. 0:25:16.560 --> 0:25:19.440 There these little secret communication thing going on. 0:25:19.600 --> 0:25:20.560 They just a lot. 0:25:20.720 --> 0:25:22.880 If you got anything, there. 0:25:24.560 --> 0:25:25.479 Was his stump. 0:25:27.520 --> 0:25:29.040 Frank had a picture. 0:25:32.320 --> 0:25:38.560 Following an afternoon eating Hogi's Frank's request, lasting and sharing stories. 0:25:39.080 --> 0:25:44.440 Frank turns to me, they're like old man, like old man. 0:25:46.760 --> 0:25:48.000 They'll tell you that I. 0:25:49.760 --> 0:25:55.320 Have and uh, what would you mention. 0:25:59.080 --> 0:25:59.119 This? 0:26:01.480 --> 0:26:04.399 He asked me again if he's already told me he 0:26:04.560 --> 0:26:05.760 has dementia. 0:26:10.040 --> 0:26:12.320 And that is whoo who excremated? 0:26:12.400 --> 0:26:18.160 Too bad. Frank says that dementia feels quote cuckoo crazy. 0:26:19.040 --> 0:26:21.240 He says he first realized he had it a few 0:26:21.320 --> 0:26:24.280 years ago when he had to be hospitalized and taken 0:26:24.359 --> 0:26:25.399 outside the prison. 0:26:27.240 --> 0:26:29.920 All kind of cuckoo stuffing bettering in your head. 0:26:30.600 --> 0:26:34.119 So what does the mencha feel like? All kinds of 0:26:34.320 --> 0:26:36.560 cuckoo stuff running in your head? 0:26:37.960 --> 0:26:43.480 What you think my mother she was hit in the 0:26:43.560 --> 0:26:50.040 house and she would dirty lad with maggot. He was 0:26:50.040 --> 0:26:55.600 about your complex kids back, he's a horrible. 0:26:55.800 --> 0:26:58.639 He describes a moment in the hospital where he was 0:26:58.680 --> 0:27:01.880 suddenly transported back to the house where he was born 0:27:02.080 --> 0:27:06.000 in nineteen thirty three. His mother was there, but she 0:27:06.240 --> 0:27:10.000 was dirty and her hair was matted. She looked horrible, 0:27:10.160 --> 0:27:13.280 he says. He started crying, and. 0:27:14.359 --> 0:27:18.920 I remember when them prive I couldn't believe that my mother, 0:27:20.520 --> 0:27:22.520 And then back. 0:27:22.160 --> 0:27:28.080 To the Frank says, that's when he started asking questions 0:27:28.560 --> 0:27:31.600 and he realized that he was seeing and hearing things 0:27:31.680 --> 0:27:35.840 that weren't there, things that had already happened, or things 0:27:35.960 --> 0:27:40.040 that he simply imagined, but all of it felt so real. 0:27:40.600 --> 0:27:43.639 I was the only one knew I had. How did 0:27:43.680 --> 0:27:44.600 you didn't even know that? 0:27:45.960 --> 0:27:47.160