Thanks to a rare clemency approval, a man sentenced to almost 300 years for a string of nonviolent thefts walked free Thursday after Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs granted his request for clemency.
“It didn't seem actually real – absolutely real until I walked out that gate this morning,” said now 31-year-old Atdom Patsalis.
In late 2013, he found himself struggling with addiction, homeless and stealing random items to barter for shelter in Bullhead City.
When he wrote to the Arizona Justice Project in 2017, executive director and attorney Lindsay Herf said they were shocked at the 292-year sentence he’d received.
“It was the harshest possible sentence that could be imposed,” said Herf.
For a non-violent offender like Patsalis, who paid off his court-ordered restitution while in prison, a life sentence goes too far.
“Adtom will be the first to admit, he did these crimes,” she said. “He deserves some punishment, but what does that punishment look like? And where is the rehabilitation in it?”
Herf said there are many others in Arizona with disproportionate sentences that also deserve a second chance.
“People just might surprise you,” said Herf. “And a lot of people hit a dark patch in their life in their later teens or 20s, as Atdom did, and really in one of the most hopeless places: In prison, staring down the rest of his life. He turned it around.”
Standing in front of the parole office Thursday morning, Patsalis expressed hope for the future. He plans to release music, write a book and maybe get into cars now that he’s free. But he also wants to use this second chance to help others try for theirs.
“Putting a 21-year-old in prison for the rest of his life for having some difficulties, it's not the way,” said Patsalis. “Like, I needed, I needed rehab, a hug and a sandwich. That's what I needed, not get sentenced to the rest of my life in prison.”
For now, Patsalis said he looks forward to catching up on the last 11 years with his family.
