After a two-year campaign by Long Beach-based nonprofit Unite The People, Allan McIntosh has been resentenced to time served after spending 24 years behind bars.
“It’s definitely surreal right now,” said McIntosh’s wife, Daviena McIntosh. “But I’m so happy and I spoke to him right after court and he’s just so excited and just can’t wait to be home.”
According to Cesar McDowell, founder of Unite The People and McIntosh’s former cellmate, McIntosh attended the trial via Zoom and is currently being held at San Quentin State Prison. He will be released by Saturday, Daviena said.
Unite the People offers affordable legal help to incarcerated people as well as those going through criminal trials, with fees decided on a sliding scale based on a client’s income.
Unite The People flew Daviena to Long Beach so she could attend her husband’s resentencing hearing on Monday, June 20.
“We felt like the wife should be here,” McDowell said. “ […] We did a lot of work to make sure this happened. But that’s his wife. And don’t nothing matter more to a guy in prison than his wife.”
On Oct. 2, 1998, McIntosh was biking home from the store after buying food for his family, when he was stopped by two Long Beach police officers for not using the crosswalk and not having a light on his bicycle, according to Unite The People.
The officers decided to search McIntosh, and found a gun on him—his third offense after previously being convicted of robbery and attempted robbery. McIntosh has said that the gun was only for self defense.
McIntosh was arrested on the charge of being a felon in possession of a firearm, an offense that normally carries a prison sentence of up to three years.
McIntosh was instead sentenced to 25 years to life in prison due to California’s three-strikes law, which requires a minimum 25-year sentence for anyone convicted of a “serious or violent” felony three different times. Courts can escalate the punishment to a life sentence.
“I never imagined that I would beat him out because he did so many programs. He did so many positive things.”
—Cesar McDowell, founder of Unite the People
The Three Strikes Law was passed in California in 1994 after Assembly Bill 971 was signed into law by former Gov. Pete Wilson and Proposition 184 was passed by voters.
The two laws were virtually identical, and were passed after the murders of Kimber Reynolds and Polly Klaas, both committed by repeat offenders who had been in and out of prison. The law was meant to lower the number of recidivist criminals out on the street.
According to a 2019 report by the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR), the rate of recidivism (returning to prison) for incarcerated people in the state has averaged 50% in the past two decades.
According to the 2019 CDCR report, evidence-based rehabilitation programs can lower the rate of recidivism by providing inmates with work skills, education and counseling for drug addiction.
McDowell said he thought it would be McIntosh who got out first because of his dedication to reforming himself. McIntosh is a well-known member of San Quentin’s basketball team and is involved in mentoring others.
“I never imagined that I would beat him out because he did so many programs,” McDowell said. “He did so many positive things.”
During his resentencing hearing, Judge James D. Otto referred to McIntosh as a “model prisoner,” as reported by Spectrum News.
McIntosh’s resentencing was made possible largely due to reforms put in place when District Attorney George Gascon came into office.
“If Gascon’s re-sentencing structure was not in place, yes, we can file the petition, but it would be damn near impossible,” McDowell said. “It’d be a really hard fight.”
Daviena has started a GoFundMe campaign to raise funds for her husband for when he comes home.
“He’s been in prison for 24 years. He has no retirement fund. He has no 401k,” McDowell said. “[…] This man has to start with nothing, literally zero. He gets $200 when he’s paroled.”
Daviena and McDowell said that if Unite The People hadn’t gotten involved, McIntosh could have spent his entire life in prison.
McDowell encouraged others who may have incarcerated family members to reach out to Unite The People for assistance.
“They will not give up on their clients,” Daviena said of Unite The People. “They will push and push and push until there’s no more pushing.”
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