MICHIGAN WOMAN FREED AFTER 20 YEARS

DETROIT (AP) Michigan officials unanimously agreed Friday to release a
woman sent to prison for life without parole in a 1978 heroin case, making
her the first person freed under a new law that allows parole for lifers
after 20 years.

JeDonna Young, 44, plans to live with her mother, perhaps working at a law
firm to make use of the college degree she earned while in Scott Regional
Correctional Facility, where she works as a paralegal. Parole officials
must approve those plans.

"My client couldn't believe her ears," said her attorney, Stuart Friedman.
"She's had so many false starts over the years.

"Now she's scared it's been 21 years, and the world's changed. She's going
out there and putting together the pieces and restarting her life. It's
going to take a lot to get adjusted to things."

Ms. Young was driving with her boyfriend James Gulley in 1978 when Detroit
police stopped her car and found nearly 3 pounds of heroin. Gulley said it
was his; Ms. Young said she didn't know it was there. They were both
convicted under a new, unforgiving anti-drug law. Gulley died in prison
last year.

The U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals reluctantly upheld Ms. Young's conviction
in 1989 but said it was unconvinced she was the kind of drug dealer the law
was designed for.

Last year, the Legislature amended the lifer law to allow parole after 20
years. The change took effect Oct. 1, allowing convicts to become eligible
after 15 years if they cooperated with police and did not have prior felony
convictions.

At a parole hearing Thursday, Ms. Young, who has a 27-year-old son, said
she hoped for the best.

"Until I actually walk out the door, that's when I'll believe it," she
said. "I pray all the time. That's what got me through it. It's kept me
strong."