Voices from Inside: Dino Caroselli

“My name is Dino Caroselli. I’m incarcerated at Sing Sing. I am serving 65 years-to-life. 35 years-to-life for attempted robbery and attempted aggravated assault and 30 years-to-life for a subsequent attempted assault charge. Since then, I have educated myself and the taxpayers have paid for my rehabilitation. But all those efforts are wasted because I will die in prison long before my first chance at parole in 2055. 2020 has been a devastating year for us all. With COVID taking the lives of so many, I’ve lost a couple of my friends in here and it was frightening. They were not given oxygen, no ventilators. They suffocated for weeks till they were gone. One friend had less than a month before he would be freed after completing 25 years. There is no social distancing in here. The elder population is worried about being next. I want to speak about two very important bills. Elder Parole and Fair and Timely Parole are very important to me, other incarcerated people, and our families. They breathed a breath of fresh air into my soul. For the first time in three decades, I feel alive again because they offer me hope, an opportunity for me to redeem myself, and a chance to take care of my wife. Average citizens protested all summer long because they, too, wanted reform.” 

“America affords its people with the most human and civil liberties yet we pack people away in cages forever without a second chance after establishing that we have rehabilitated ourselves. I know I did wrong and it was necessary to punish me. But with age, knowledge, and humility, I have changed. My youth is gone. No matter how much I wish, I can’t go back and change my past. I’m ashamed and truly sorry for the anguish I’ve caused my victims. My immediate family is all gone and I never got to apologize. I’ve participated in numerous rehabilitation programs. I currently work as a peer specialist for a community-oriented reentry program. I work with mental health and prison staff assisting people with mental health issues to prepare for release. DOCCS is warehousing an elderly population of educated people who have rehabilitated themselves. These people are just wasting away in dungeons at a cost of millions. They could be out in society mentoring troubled youth. I beg the legislature to pass the Elder Parole bill and Fair and Timely Act to allow more incarcerated New Yorkers fair and meaningful opportunities for release based upon who they are today.”