Advocacy Organization Asks NFL Players to Join with Famed Federal Judge to Help Free Wrongly-Imprisoned African American Technology Executives

Denver, CO -- (ReleaseWire) -- 06/22/2018 --President Trump recently told NFL players who are deeply-troubled about racial injustice in the criminal justice system to contact him about federal cases where someone was wrongly convicted or done wrong by the system and he will pardon or commute their sentence. Advocacy organization A Just Cause hopes for the sake of those who have been wrongly imprisoned and their suffering families, NFL players will take the President up on his offer.

"This is an opportunity for NFL players to make a real difference in the lives of children who have lost their father or mother, mothers and fathers who have lost their sons or daughters and wives who have lost their husbands," says Lamont Banks, Executive Director of A Just Cause. "I also ask NFL athletes to join with the former federal judge who freed African-American middleweight boxer Rubin 'Hurricane' Carter in his fight to pardon innocent African-American technology executives from Colorado known as the IRP5," adds Banks.

"I don't know if race played a part," former federal judge H. Lee Sarokin told the Washington Post about the IRP executives (www.wapo.st/29jXqSC). "But if you put all the connections together, I don't know that there's any other conclusion," added Sarokin. "You read every day about horrendous crimes committed by corporations, who are getting fined," said Sarokin. "I thought it was rare for corporate executives to be indicted and imprisoned for not paying their bills," added Sarokin.

After 9/11, the IRP5 launched a company (IRP Solutions Corporation) and developed innovative criminal investigations software to help federal, state and local law enforcement agencies improve information sharing and collaboration capabilities. The company's software (CILC, pronounced "silk), which is an acronym for Case Investigative Life Cycle, was featured prominently in national law enforcement publications and received high praise from major law enforcement agencies, including the FBI, Denver Police Department, NYPD, and Department of Homeland Security who requested and received a quote for $100 million for the anticipated purchase of two modules. With full knowledge of CILC's prowess in the law enforcement community and the legitimacy of their company, Denver federal prosecutors claimed that IRP an CILC were a scam and criminalized unpaid debts to staffing companies accumulated from temporary labor services provided for work on the software. According to Judge Sarokin, the FBI investigation and raid on IRP's corporate office ruined IRP's sales efforts with its law enforcement agencies and made it impossible for the execs to pay their bills. After destroying IRP's reputation with law enforcement, Denver federal prosecutor Matthew T. Kirsch claimed CILC was a scam used by the IRP execs to defraud staffing companies out of free labor. Kirsch told the jury that the IRP executives had a better chance of winning the lottery than selling CILC to a large law enforcement agency. Judge Sarokin also spoke about the absurd theory of the government to the Washington Post.

"What amazed me about the case," Sarokin told the Post, "was the theory of the government that this program they were developing was a scam." "All the proof in the case goes the opposite way," exclaimed Sarokin. "The men left their jobs to create the software, hired former FBI and immigration agents as consultants and MADE NO PROFIT from the scheme," explained Sarokin. Judge Sarokin also noted that law enforcement agencies, IRP's sole customers, seem an unlikely target for an alleged scam. Sarokin was so disturbed by the horrible injustice and harsh sentences of 7 to 11 years, he, as a playwright in his retirement, wrote a short dramatic play where professional actors portrayed the men as they discussed the facts of the case and government misconduct from prison. Judge Sarokin's play, "The Race Card Face Up", is a must see by everyone and can be viewed on YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y94O5mMJqHU).

A Just Cause says Judge Sarokin has advanced the ball down the field to win justice for the IRP5 but believes NFL players advocating for a pardon may result in the winning touchdown.

"Although many NFL players and Americans as a whole are rightly upset about the questionable killing of unarmed black men by some police officers, injustice comes in many forms, including racially-motivated convictions and unfair sentences like the IRP5," says Cliff Stewart of A Just Cause. "NFL players shouldn't miss an opportunity to personally help end the pain and suffering of those whose federal criminal convictions or sentences may have been a result of implicit or explicit racial bias simply because President Trump made the offer to pardon," adds Stewart. "President Trump showed his willingness to grant clemency to Alice Johnson, a black woman, from the advocacy of Kim Kardashian and I urge NFL players to do the same," says Stewart. We must all be flexible and work together to fight against injustice wherever it occurs in our justice system," concludes Stewart.

Four members of Congress have joined the fight for the IRP5 by sending a letter to the DOJ seeking answers about prosecutorial and judicial misconduct outlined in a comprehensive dossier compiled by A Just Cause (See congressional letter at http://bit.ly/2HuvgTc and dossier at http://bit.ly/2wBaCyJ).

The IRP5 (David A. Banks, Clinton A. Stewart, Demetrius K. Harper, David A. Zirpolo and Kendrick Barnes) have been wrongly imprisoned at the federal prison camp in Florence, Colorado for nearly six years.