EARLY ONE MONDAY MORNING in May, Vincent O’Bannon was dropped off outside the gates of San Quentin Rehabilitation Center after serving more than 15 years in prison.
He was convicted of commercial burglary and sentenced to serve 28 years to life plus four months under California’s Three Strikes law. But on April 29, a Santa Clara County Superior Court judge resentenced O’Bannon to 10 years with credit for time served.
Two years ago, the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation referred O’Bannon’s case back to the trial court after noticing sentencing errors in some legal court documents. The superior court quickly denied resentencing. O’Bannon gave up any hope after a year, until one special evening.
He was covering a Dee Dee Simon concert for the inmate-run San Quentin News newspaper in the Protestant chapel when a friend walked over to him, O’Bannon said.
“He said: ‘Did you know you are being resentenced? I just read it on my Viapath tablet,’” O’Bannon said. “Sure enough an appellate court ruled in my favor.”
From news writer to new life
O’Bannon spent more than a decade at San Quentin. He went from being a San Quentin News writer to taking thousands of pictures as their photographer. His last role there was as senior editor. He is also an alumni with the KALW radio podcast “Uncuffed.”
But most notably, O’Bannon helped his daughter Autumn fulfill her dream of bringing a first-ever truck driving training course inside the San Quentin prison.
Concrete Rose Correspondence School began almost two years ago. O’Bannon was the president and lead facilitator. But has since passed his role to a graduate of the program.
The program has graduated two cohorts of more than a hundred hopeful future truck drivers. They have both English and Spanish classes and have recently started a program specifically for youth offenders.
Concrete Rose has a long waiting list. O’Bannon said his goal now is to get simulators introduced into the prison for in-cab inspections and walk-around inspection training.
“I think we have a lot of support from San Quentin administration who say they want to do it,” he said. “Lately, I’ve been getting really lucky.”
But it wasn’t just good fortune that got O’Bannon re-sentenced and released. He also did the work of addressing his criminal factors by taking a multitude of self-help groups offered at San Quentin. He had a lot of support letters, even from unlikely allies, San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins and Santa Clara County Assistant District Atttorney David Angel. The judge was also impressed with O’Bannon’s self-reflection work and corrected behavior.
O’Bannon’s road to freedom wasn’t easy. In fact, it started out really rocky despite his rehabilitative achievements. At one point, he gave up on being re-sentenced and prepared for a parole suitability hearing in the summer of 2023. It was his first board hearing appearance, but he was granted parole.
For two months, he excitedly prepared to go home to see his children and grandchildren. But then he got the news that the state’s Board of Parole Hearings was having him investigated for circumventing CDCR’s restitution collection process.
O’Bannon ended up being taken in handcuffs to an Investigative Services Unit office and read his Miranda rights. Eventually, he was found guilty of circumvention and his parole date was rescinded.
“They found me guilty of having my wife put money into other prisoners’ trust accounts,” he said. “The board commissioners said that that was criminal thinking and it meant I still posed a threat to society.”
Showing accountability
He felt his only hope for freedom was to wait three years for another board hearing. But he was re-sentenced.
“The district attorney just asked me to write an accountability statement for the restitution circumvention,” he said.
O’Bannon’s restitution order was originally $6,113. He got it down to $3,935.29 before he was charged with circumvention.
“I was paying it,” he said. I just didn’t want my family paying it. That is my obligation, not theirs.”
O’Bannon said he now only owes $500, which he plans to pay off soon.
One last gift O’Bannon got before he was released from prison was a dance with his daughter at the first-ever San Quentin Parenting Prom in early April. He wore a black three-piece suit from the Men’s Wearhouse and an emerald green tie to match his daughter’s dress. He walked her down a red carpet and got to do a TikTok dance with her on the red carpet before reading a heartfelt letter about the time they lost together.
“Not only did I get to dance with my daughter, but her birthday is May 5th. The same day I get to go home,” he said, smiling.
With his newfound freedom, he plans to live in the San Jose or San Francisco area. As far as a job, “I’ll most likely be driving trucks for others until I get my own,” he said.
Steve Brooks is a California Local News Fellow with Bay City News Foundation, reporting from inside San Quentin Rehabilitation Center. His perspective gives readers insight into issues and news from inside the prison. See more of his work at Inside/Out on Local News Matters.