The Sentence: A Family's Prison Memoir

by Gene Kraig

The Sentence, A Family's Prison Memoir, chronicles the years leading up to and through attorney Jerry Kraig's incarceration for conspiracy to defraud the IRS of one of his client's, pornography czar, Reuben Sturman, taxes, including the devastating consequences for the family as seen through the eyes of his wife, artist/writer Gene Kraig.

Genres: Memoir

254 pages, Paperback

First published March 1, 2006

Reviews

[Paul Gaya Ochieng Simeon Juma]

When I first saw this book I was extremely excited and so I decided to keep it for later in an attempt to try and prolong the happy feeling. So, after reading a couple of books, I tell myself that time is ripe for this one. That is when it downed on me that this here is a prison memoir. Furthermore, the author is not the prisoner but the wife to the prisoner! That is when I start worrying, this is not the book I initially had in mind. But, I decide to make lemonade out of my lemons. Unfortunately I managed to squeeze out 2/5th of it.

So, Gene Kraig invites us to have a look at how she had to cop with the fact of being the wife of an inmate. Her husband Jerry Kraig was indicted for conspiracy to defraud the IRS. Mr. Kraig was an attorney who was determined to represent pornographers against the government which had banned pornography and any related publication. He anchored his argument on the Constitution and particularly the fundamental right of expression.

Let me just interject at this point and tell you of a personal experience I had with legal drafters here in Kenya. I was once given a task of drafting a law on pornography. Unfornately, I was never informed on the content or the government's policy on the topic. I went ahead and drafted a pornography act licensing pornography in private and in public so longs as it is shown only to adults and clearly described to the public. After presenting my draft I was quickly summoned by my supervisor to justify my very unconventional position. I tried with no success. I went back to my desk and quickly reversed the initial draft and replaced it with an anti-pornography bill. That was quickly admitted.

Jerry's opinions on pornography never amused the government of the time. The authorities knew that his clients were making money. One of them was indicted and convicted with the offence related to tax evasion by the IRS. Shortly thereafter, Jerry received information that the grand jury had indicted him with conspiracy to defraud the IRS. The trial was swift and verdict of the jury was entered against him. He was found guilty and later sentenced to 2 years imprisonment. Also, his legal practice was cancelled indefinitely.

He was later sent to prison where he worked in the Law Library which was full of outdated legal materials. It is from prison that he wrote letters to his wife describing his life and stay there. Now whether the government was right or wrong is the question? The book began with a quote from Henry David Thoreau which states that. 'under a government that imprisons any unjustly, then the right place for a just man is in imprison'. The imlication is that Jerry Kraig was an innocent man who was wrongfully convicted in order to silence him. Definitely, the standards have changed currently. In fact, pornography is now protected under the freedom of expression provision in the Constitution. I know Jerry is happy.

[Glenn]

Gene Kraig's “The Sentence” is unsparing in its examination of the legal system, judges, prosecutors, prison officials and prison employees. She shows how the people her husband Jerry Kraig worked for and his fellow lawyers perhaps inevitably helped sacrifice Jerry to save themselves. She details the damage done to her and her family, making us see how their hopes were dashed, and how they had to learn to speak a new language, and exist in unfamiliar ways.

But most importantly, and this is crucial is establishing her voice in this tale, is that Gene Kraig lets no one--no one--off the hook. We see the Kraig family struggle to make vital decisions, decisions that are not unanimously agreed upon within the family and then we see what the results of those decisions. Gene shows us the sometimes heated push and pull that occurs as Jerry's conspiracy trial progresses, and in the grim aftermath. She does not make herself a hero--she is candid about where she feels she falls short and does not live up to her own standards in the evolving drama. She also does not turn Jerry into either a hero or a martyr. Through her voice, and throughout the book his, both as relayed by Gene from their interactions, and wonderfully in his prison letters, we see him as what he is--a very real, very human person caught up in something inconceivable, a situation where any of us might act in ways that seem contrary to our best interests, to our natures.

As we are carried along through the narrative, there's the danger that we will simply pity the characters in “The Sentence” for what they endure, for the damage done to each person. But Gene Kraig accomplishes something very difficult: She elicits a much more complicated and active identification, tying Jerry's very specific experience to the larger world of prison, and the broken state of American corrections. We feel sympathy not just for him, but for the men he is locked up with; we witness the de-humanization, and through Jerry's own words, his letters, the ever-ongoing attempts to defy the degradation that a prison sentence so easily results in.

In the end, Gene Kraig's book is eminently readable and also cuts deeply within the reader. It is a true story that reads like a top-shelf mystery novel. It is an important book, transcending being just one family's story--although it is certainly that--and becoming a book that speaks broader truths, simply by telling one family's.

[Catherine]

This story focuses on the author's husband, Jerry, an attorney, who served a two year sentence for a white collar crime. I found Jerry to be extremely naive and trusting. Although I did have sympathy for Gene, I thought she pushed the "poor me, feel sorry for me" button a few too many times and never wrote of any remorse for that behavior. Without giving too much away, the end of the book is extremely sad.

[Louise]

"Under a government which imprisons any unjustly, the true place for a just man is also a prison"
-Henry David Thoreau
This book is about how a man was taken away from his family and incarcinated in prison. The book is written by his wife in first person.