Man once serving two life sentences prepares to graduate from SMU

Chris Young says clemency gave him a second chance after more than a decade in federal prison.

Chris Young says there was a time he never believed he would live long enough to see a college graduation.

Now, after once serving two life sentences without the possibility of parole, Young is preparing to graduate from Southern Methodist University on Saturday with a degree in economics and public policy.

“I'll be graduating from Southern Methodist University, SMU, with a degree in economics and public policy,” Young said.

Young grew up in Clarksville, Tennessee, where he said poverty shaped many of the decisions he made as a teenager.

“When you're living on the suffocating levels of poverty, you're just thinking about how I can get out of this,” Young said. “The only thing you're thinking about is I need some money.”

By his teens, Young had been arrested twice. He later "began selling drugs."

Young said his third arrest led to a federal sentence of life in prison without parole.

“It was times where I saw myself being more successful, and it was times where I didn't even see myself being alive,” Young said.

His case later drew national attention after U.S. District Judge Kevin Sharp, who sentenced Young, publicly criticized the punishment.

“Judge Kevin A. Sharp, who ultimately resigned in protest of my sentence,” Young said. “And his resignation led to a Dallas native, Brittany K. Barnett, who's also an SMU alumni, to help get me free.”

Young’s case also gained support from criminal justice reform advocate Kim Kardashian.

After serving more than a decade in federal prison, Young was granted clemency by President Donald Trump in 2021.

Young said the experience transformed his outlook on life.

“Your past is not to hinder you, it is to propel you, and the future is not to scare you, it is to motivate you,” he said.

Young recently published a memoir detailing his journey from federal prison to graduating from SMU.

“This Chris wouldn't exist without that Chris,” he said.