FREE HENRY BRAILEY
FREE HENRY BRAILEY
Why this petition matters
Henry C. Brailey should immediately be released from his unjust and excessive prison sentence of 93 years for bank robbery given the disparity in sentencing of two white females who also robbed the same bank.
Ashling Goode, a white female who was a codefendant of Henry Brailey was acquitted of the bank robbery and other charges against her although her Black boyfriend whose actions were identical to Ashling was found guilty and sentenced to 18 years.
A brief description of these robberies will be helpful in understanding the race and gender disparity. In 2006, Henry Brailey and three (3) others including Ashling Goode robbed a SunTrust Bank in Hanover County, Virginia which is about nine (9) miles north of Richmond. Henry went into the bank armed with a pellet gun with his then girlfriend, Maggie Jones. There were no shots fired by the pellet gun during the robbery and no one was physically injured.
The bank tellers put cash in a bag supplied by Henry along with, a dye pack and an explosive device. The bag exploded shortly after Henry and Maggie left the bank. Maggie’s 17-year-old son Robert Jones and his 17-year-old girlfriend, Ashling Goode, were positioned in the parking lot of a nearby school in Ashling’s green Honda, which was going to be used as a “switch car”.
After Henry and Maggie arrived in the school parking lot, they switched cars and left in Ashling’s car while Robert and Ashling left in Henry’s SUV. The police were given a description of the SUV by bank employees and when it was spotted pursued the vehicle. When Robert and Ashling became aware they were being pursued, they stopped the SUV in the middle of the-road and ran into the woods. They returned shortly to the SUV which was surrounded by the police and turned themselves in. Ashling told the police that she was aware of the robbery prior to it taking place and participated by using her car as a switch vehicle. Henry and Maggie were later stopped by the police in Richmond in Ashling’s vehicle.
Henry and Maggie were indicted and tried in the Hanover County Circuit Court after waiving trial by jury. Because Maggie was well disguised, she was not credibly identified and the court acquitted her. Henry however was convicted on all charges and was sentenced to 93 years in prison with 53 years suspended for the rest of his life. Henry is currently serving an active sentence of 40 years. Maggie was later indicted for bank robbery in federal court in Richmond and received a six (6) year sentence.
In December 2010, Tori Pollard a white female robbed two banks in the span of two weeks, one in Spotsylvania County Virginia and the other was the same SunTrust Bank that Henry robbed in Hanover County in 2006. She was sentenced to serve less than four years for each of the robberies. Given the disparity in sentencing based on race and gender, Henry C. Brailey’s sentence should be commuted to time served.
We have uploaded the entire court records of the robberies in 2006 and 2010 on the website and you are free to review those documents. In 2010, a white female, Tori Pollard was found guilty of robbing two separate banks within 2 weeks of each other and one of the banks was the same bank that Henry robbed four years earlier was sentenced to serve less than four years for each of the robberies. Given the disparity in sentencing based on race and gender, Henry C. Brailey’s sentence should be commuted to time served.
Decision Makers
- Hon. Ralph Northam, Governor of the State of Virginia