My name is Regina Kelly. I am a proud single mother of four. I am not a famous actress nor was I born rich. I am just a regular, everyday type of person. I have my ups and downs, my strengths and weaknesses. I AM YOU!!. But on November 2nd, 2000, what I thought would be an ordinary day at work turned out to be the worst day of my life, and nine years later, I am still haunted by the injustice that was done to me.

As I was getting ready to start my second shift as a waitress in a diner, the police showed up to arrest me. After 17 hours of waiting in a cold cell, unaware of why I was arrested, I was permitted to face a judge who then told me that I was being charged with the delivery of a controlled substance in a "drug free school zone." My bond was set at $70,000. In order to be released and sent home to my children, I was given one option: plead guilty and accept 10 years of probation. But since I was convinced that a mistake was made and that they were looking for someone else, I refused to plead guilty to something I was innocent of. I figured I would just have to wait it out until they discovered their mistake.

What I later found out is that there was no mistake in their minds. They had the person they were looking for, and after several weeks in jail, my life was put into the hands of a court appointed attorney and a possibility of facing up to 99 years in prison. Over the past nine years, my life has never been the same. Although somewhat victorious, I found out that what happened to me has, and is still happening, to people all over this country--many not as lucky as myself, and thousands locked up in prison for the rest of their lives.

With the American prison population now over 2.5 million people (a vast majority of which were convicted on drug-related charges and so many of which are innocent), I have taken on a personal mission to do whatever I can to expose the injustices of the "War on Drugs" and provide through my experience that people can and must fight to protect their freedom. We do have that option to fight. Never give up!

Please spend some time viewing my site and learn more about my story and the stories of other victims of the "War on Drugs". Be sure to check out the movie about my story, "American Violet".