Jermaine Wilson went from convicted felon to now serving as the Mayor of Leavenworth, Kansas. (VIDEO: YouTube) (LINK: cbsnews.com) (LINK: kcur.org)
Growing up, Jermaine lived in poverty and had parents that struggled with drug and alcohol addictions. Even as the parents started going to church and got delivered and saved, Jermaine and his brother were already exposed to a lifestyle that lead to incarceration.
By the age of 15 Jermaine committed a robbery charged and was sentenced to 2 years in juvenile detention during which his failed attempt to lead to an additional jail time. He went back to dealing and became one of the biggest drug dealers in Leavenworth. The next time Jermaine was convicted for drugs and sentenced to prison for 40 months, the experience was very different as he had just become a young father and also decided to give over his life to Jesus. Jermaine wanted his fEmily back and through his faith, began a new chapter. He was rewarded good time and released early from prison, returned to his family and got married; and along with his wife became youth ministers at a church home. Upon completing parole, Jermaine went back into the same institutions where he served time and became a mentor.
In 2015 Jermaine got his criminal record expunged. He felt God had given him a second chance to be part of the solution to the horrific racism taking place throughout society ” The only way we can create change is by working together and becoming united” says Jermaine who teamed up with the chief of police to create an event called BRIDGING THE GAP/ Unity in the Community, which featured food and clothing giveaways, bounce houses, but the main attraction was the Youth vs the LVPD in basketball.
As he shared his story and people started urging him to get involved in politics. Initially, Jermaine was reluctant.
As this subject kept coming up, in 2017 Jermaine prayed for wisdom to God and agreed to run for office, against former mayors, business owners, retired military. Yet, Jermaine received the most votes. In 2019 Jermaine Wilson became the Mayor of Leavenworth Ks. On the second day in office his administration worked with the Leavenworth District Attorney toprovide free expungement to individuals who were elgible. (LINK: kansascity.com)
“And I know God gave me another chance. And to see that the people gave me another chance … I was just overwhelmed with unexplainable joy,” Wilson told KCUR’s Gina Kaufmann on Central Standard. (LINK: kcur.org)
In 2019 Jermaine began collaborating with the American Justice Alliance as a panelist to continue his mission in combating racism in the country especially where is it infected criminal justice and led to wrongful convictions.
