My Sister, Sarah Pender, Is Wrongfully Convicted. Please Help Me ...

My sister, Sarah Pender, has been in prison for 20 years (5 of them in solitary!) all for a crime she did not commit. 

Sarah’s then boyfriend, Rick, who committed two awful murders, has long-since confessed his guilt and apologized for framing Sarah via a forged letter he forced his cellmate, Steve, to write.[i] 

Even Sarah’s prosecutor, the man whose job it was to put her behind bars, found clear evidence that she had been framed by corrupt police.  He publicly declared in 2013 that if he had known what the police had done he would never have prosecuted her.[ii]  He even made an emotional phone call to our mother, where he promised to help free her.[iii]  However, year after year, nothing has changed and she remains in prison.

Please help me free her at long last! 

I finally realized last year that no one else was going to do it, and that freeing my sister was now up to me.  I knew I needed to find Steve and ask him to tell the truth.  I got on Facebook looking for someone with his name who had connections to both Indiana and Florida (his last known address). And I found someone with palm trees on his profile picture who liked the Indiana Pacers!  I knew fairly quickly I had the right person, but how to persuade him?  I literally used kind conversation.  Here is part of our FB exchange:

Me: Thanks for being a such a standup guy now! I appreciate your help, you are the answer to our prayers.

Steve: I lost my mom 7 years ago and she was only 46 years old and it was the hardest thing I have ever had to deal with and I know if she were here she would want me to do the right thing and would be proud of me.

Me: Awe, I’m sorry sweetheart. I’m sure she would.

Steve: I’m so sorry for not manning up and acting like an adult and doing what is right a long time ago.

Steve willingly gave us an affidavit admitting the forgery.[iv]  I told Steve I understand and forgive what he did.  People can do the wrong thing when they fear for their lives. 

But what I don’t understand is why people in power are so willing to let my sister languish in prison for decades for something she didn’t do.

Sarah long ago exhausted all her legal appeals so now the only way she can be released is for Indiana’s Governor Holcomb to pardon her or commute her sentence.  Luckily, Governor Holcomb is one of the best in the nation in his concern for fairness in the criminal justice system. In fact, one of the first things he did when he became governor was to pardon another clearly innocent person. 

My beloved sister has spent decades in prison for a crime she didn’t commit. I hope and pray that you will join me in petitioning Governor Holcomb to free her.

Sarah loves gardening so much that her nickname at the prison is “plant whisperer” and her teachers from the prison’s college program say she is a “focused, hardworking, and disciplined student; a kind, patient, and articulate tutor; and an excellent team member.”[v] 

In fact, she’s done so well that Evergreen State University in Washington State has just admitted Sarah into its masters of environmental studies program! But she can’t enroll in that program without your help.  

Governor Holcomb, please end my family’s nightmare and pardon or commute Sarah’s sentence in time to start classes this summer.  The world has so much to gain from Sarah’s love and talents. I hope now, with your help, my family can be reunited. 

[i] Rick’s affidavit[ii] Larry Sells’ affidavit[iii] You can see her article in the Indianapolis Star https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XthwyEFNCGw[iv] Steve’s affidavit[v] Here is an essay I love that Sarah wrote last year about gardening in prison.                      [VI] Curt Baggett handwriting analysis