Part 39 (1/2)

So I walked.

One last glance at the man I loved most in the world, And quickly ran out.

I wanted to go back, Hug one last time, But the pain was too much.

Had to get out.

Control myself.

Re-bury those tears.

Hide the pain.

Forget the sorrow.

And later, When I peered out of that aeroplane window, And watched his world Slip further away, I looked down at my hand, Where his had once been, But now was gone, And wondered If I'd ever have it there again.

Julian Peto had so kindly brought Amber and Francesca over to see me in America. He is the most unfailing friend. Judy couldn't come. Despite previous a.s.surances to the contrary, the US Government refused to let her into the country because she had a conviction, the one she'd accepted in order to be reunited with her children four years ago.

What was I doing? I was clapping myself on the back for being able to survive contentedly in the world's worst penitentiary while my real life was proceeding without me. And I was accepting it. The US Government was preventing my being transferred to a British prison and simultaneously preventing my wife from visiting me. They were going too far. Those evil b.a.s.t.a.r.ds had already gone too far. Amber's poem and Judy's inability to see me for the next twelve years rekindled an almost dead fighting spirit. I had to get out of here.

I reasoned that despite some bureaucrat's constant rejection of my application to be imprisoned in Europe, my best way out lay in that direction. By now I was receiving about fifty letters a week from family, friends, lawyers, journalists, those who wished me well, and those who had been interested in what they had read about me. I wrote letters to all of them. There was clearly a lot of support out there for me to be transferred to a British nick. Everyone thought that the Americans were being pigheadedly harsh on me. They collected signatures supporting my transfer application. My wife and children toured the schools and bars of Palma acc.u.mulating signatures. My parents went to almost every house in Kenfig Hill doing the same. Britain's greatest champion of legalised marijuana, Danny Roche, got half of Liverpool to sign pet.i.tions begging for my return to England. My parents' Labour Member of Parliament, Win Griffiths, took up the cause with a vengeance and worked unceasingly to obtain my transfer. The outstanding British charity organisation, Prisoners Abroad, whose admirable efforts to comfort those imprisoned overseas have saved lives and families, vigorously campaigned on my behalf. They were joined by the Prison Reform Trust, Release, Justice, and the Legalise Cannabis Campaign, all of whose support had been coordinated by a wonderful lady I have never met, Judy Yacoub from Lancas.h.i.+re. BBC Wales interviewed me and aired a sympathetic broadcast. Duncan Campbell wrote an equally sympathetic piece in the Guardian. Wales on Sunday Guardian. Wales on Sunday carried the following editorial: carried the following editorial: Time for Marks to return HOWARD MARKS has been sitting in an American prison for over two years and could still be there in the year 2003. Because his wife has a drug conviction she is banned from re-entering the country and cannot visit him. Three times, applications have been made to let him complete his sentence in a British jail. Three times, the Justice Department has said no.This newspaper does not condone what Howard Marks has done, but twelve years is a long time between visits. Surely the Americans, who put such great store in home, Mom and apple pie, could show a little compa.s.sion and allow the move to a country which his family can visit.

Even the British Home Office went so far as to formally request my repatriation. American organisations helped. Prisoner Visitation and Support, a multidenominational charity which had visited and comforted me and hundreds of other prisoners without visitors in US prisons, wrote compelling letters to the relevant government agencies. Families Against Mandatory Minimums, by far the most effective prison reform organisation in the US, did the same. Thousands and thousands of signatures piled up on Attorney General Janet Reno's desk. Still no answer, but this time it was taking a long time for them to say no.

Balliol College, some of whose members hold high positions in the United States Government, had also made relentless and impa.s.sioned pleas to wherever they could. I had never expected Balliol to support me to the extent it did when I was in Terre Haute. Christopher Hill, the old Master, and John Jones, the current Dean of Balliol, regularly corresponded with me the entire time I was there. John had even attempted to get the prison authorities' permission to allow me to proof-read the College Register before its publication. They refused.

The United States has a Freedom of Information Act. Through it one is meant to be able to acquire all government files referring to the individual making the request. It takes forever. The application is pa.s.sed from one agency to the other. It gets lost. It's going to cost. There's a horrendous backlog. There are countless exceptions preventing some doc.u.ments being released. Large chunks of doc.u.ments finally released are blacked out under the guise of hindering DEA investigations. More often than not, one has to take the government agency to court to get anything remotely revealing. But with tenacity and motivation, doc.u.ments will dribble through, and it's always worth the effort. I got all sorts of stuff.

Lovato had written the following letter to Joe Meko, a Regional Director of Prisons: SUBJECT: Request for Denial of Transfer of Inmate No. 41526004, Dennis Howard MARKS from a High Security System (Terre Haute, Indiana) to a Medium Security System.Dear Mr Meko:As per our telephone conversation this date, October 7, 1992, I am requesting that the consideration of the transfer of Inmate No. 41526004 Dennis Howard MARKS be denied.Mr MARKS is an Oxford graduate (Graduate level degree). He was recruited and utilized briefly in the service of Her Majesty as an MI-5 operative. This service was discontinued when it was determined that Mr MARKS was a major international drug dealer. As case agent on the investigation code-named [Eclectic], I worked with the police departments of eleven different countries in an effort to dismantle Mr MARKS' organization. Mr MARKS' organization was world-wide, with offices in Pakistan, Thailand, Hong Kong, Manila, Australia, Canada, the United States, England, Spain and the Netherlands. During the princ.i.p.al year of investigation, Mr MARKS had five separate loads of cannabis being s.h.i.+pped to Europe, the United States and Australia. Mr MARKS netted 3 million dollars profit from just one of these loads (ten tons to Los Angeles, CA).No monies were ever recovered from Mr MARKS. Mr MARKS has, in my opinion, several million dollars awaiting him should he escape. Mr MARKS, in my opinion, lacks the personal courage to attempt any type of physical escape. However, he would utilize his superior intellect to encourage the 'System' to open the doors for him. The first step in this procedure would be the transfer to a less secure facility than the one he is currently incarcerated in. Mr MARKS has a history of drug dealing dating back to 1970. More importantly, he has a history of evading or escaping law enforcement authorities. Mr MARKS was arrested circa 1973 on drug charges emanating out of the United States in England. Mr MARKS posted bond, then became a fugitive for a period of (7) seven years. Mr MARKS fled Spain on this investigation on two separate occasions when he felt he was about to be arrested.When apprehended in Spain in July 1988, Mr MARKS fought extradition to the United States for one year before the courts ordered him extradited. Mr MARKS has a doc.u.mented life style which includes false pa.s.sports and ident.i.ties. Mr MARKS has a family in England. Mr MARKS has absolutely no reason to remain in prison for the next 25 years if given the opportunity to RUN!I request that this opportunity not be afforded him. There are several police and Justice Department agencies, both in the United States and abroad, who would provide similar letters such as this if needed.

This explained why I was being kept in America's toughest penitentiary.

To the government agency responsible for deciding whether or not I should be transferred, the DEA didn't try any persuasive tactics. They just lied: 'It should be noted as part of the plea agreement that the a.s.sistant United States Attorney stated before the court that Mr MARKS would have to serve a minimum of twelve years in a US prison before any consideration be given for a request for a transfer.' This explained why I was not, as requested by my sentencing judge, transferred to a British prison.