Read Ebook {PDF EPUB} After Dakota by Kevin Sharp Chris Young reunites with former judge, advocate. NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — Chris Young, a Clarksville man who received a presidential pardon, returned home for the first time since he was sentenced to life in prison eight years ago. The first person he hugged when he arrived in Nashville was the former judge who sentenced him. Young and former Judge Kevin Sharp shared a special moment Thursday night when they reunited at the airport. Sharp sentenced Young to life behind bars following his third drug-related conviction. Young's previous two convictions were when he was 18 and 19-years-old. Under the federal three-strikes law, a third conviction means an automatic life sentence. But Sharp eventually stepped down as a federal judge and became Young's advocate, lobbying for President Trump to grant Young clemency. On his last day in office, Trump did just that. Fortunately, we have men like Judge Sharp that had the courage and temerity to speak out against our in-just system and we had women like Kim Kardashian who was willing to use her celebrity to help bring attention towards that," said Young. "And fortunately, we had President Trump there was willing enough to put a pencil paper to correct some of the wrongs" Young says the first thing on his to-do list is to reunite with his family. But in the long term, he plans to publish a book and he’s hoping to start a career in tech. Kevin Sharp, Hitmaker of the ’90s, Dies at Age 43. Kevin Sharp, who scored a No. 1 hit in 1996 with “Nobody Knows,” died Saturday night (April 19) at age 43 following a lengthy battle with cancer. “Kevin died due to ongoing complications from past stomach surgeries and digestive issues,” according to an announcement on his website. “Nobody Knows,” which spent four weeks atop the Billboard country chart, was a cover of the Tony Rich Project’s pop hit, but his optimistic attitude as a cancer survivor gained him even more national attention. Born Dec. 10, 1970, in Weiser, Idaho, Sharp was an 18-year-old high school senior basketball player who sang baritone in the Sacramento Light Opera Association in California when he was diagnosed with Ewing’s sarcoma, a rare bone cancer. While undergoing radiation and chemotherapy, he was contacted by the Make-a-Wish Foundation, a nonprofit organization which grants wishes to seriously-ill youth. He told the organization’s representative he would like to meet famed record producer David Foster. He and the producer had several conversations. After Sharp’s cancer went into remission in 1991, Foster heard his demo and told the young singer to continue working on his career. Sharp performed at a California theme park and recorded an album titled You Can Count on Me . Through Foster, Sharp was eventually signed to Nashville-based Asylum Records. Sharp’s 1996 major label debut album, Measure of a Man , featured “Nobody Knows.” The project was certified gold by the RIAA in 1997 after selling more than 500,000 copies. The album netted two additional Top 5 singles, “She’s Sure Taking It Well” and “If You Love Somebody.” His album credits also include 1998’s Love Is (Asylum) and 2005’s Make a Wish (Cupit Records). “If She Only Knew,” released in 1998, was his last single to hit the Billboard country chart. Throughout his career, Sharp continued to work closely with the Make-a-Wish Foundation and became one of its leading spokespersons. More recently, Sharp was a motivational speaker, touring throughout the U.S. to tell others of the struggles he overcame to succeed in the music business. In lieu of flowers, Sharp’s family requests that memorial donations be made to the Make-a-Wish Foundation. Why federal judge Kevin Sharp left the bench in Nashville after Chris Young sentencing. No longer bound by ethics rules that keep judges silent, Sharp in an exclusive interview Saturday with The Tennessean denounced mandatory minimum sentences. Chief U.S. District Court Judge Kevin Sharp poses in his office at the Estes Kefauver Federal Court Building in Nashville, Tenn., Thursday, April 13, 2017. (Photo: Lacy Atkins / The Tennessean) Story Highlights. Kevin H. Sharp served as a federal judge in Nashville for 6 years. He was nominated by Barack Obama. He'll work in private practice, handling employment and civil rights cases. As a lawyer, he can be an advocate and said he hopes to level the playing field for minorities. In an exclusive interview, he revealed he hopes to advocate for one man in particular: Chris Young. Editor's note: The Tennessean published this interview in April 2017 after Judge Kevin Sharp retired. Sharp was in the news again in 2018 when Kim Kardashian sought a pardon for Chris Young. Kevin H. Sharp sent Chris Young to prison for life and he thought it was wrong. "Each defendant is supposed to be treated as an individual," Sharp said at the sentencing hearing in 2014. "I don't think that's happening here." But there are duties that come with a black robe and gavel, chief among them following the laws of the United States no matter your personal opinion. And as a federal judge, Sharp had to impose mandatory minimum terms. That meant Young, a repeat drug offender, would never go home to Clarksville. Young, now 28, is at a federal prison in Lexington, Kentucky. Sharp, now 54, is starting a new job and still thinking of Young. The former chief U.S. District judge in Middle Tennessee resigned his post Friday, ending a lifetime appointment after six years. On Monday, he'll begin work at Sanford Heisler, expanding the respected civil rights and employment law firm into Music City while also expanding its title: Sanford Heisler Sharp. In an exclusive interview on Saturday, Sharp talked about his tenure on the bench and his decision to leave it. No longer bound by ethics rules that keep judges silent, he denounced mandatory minimum sentences and previewed the topics he'll attack at the civil rights firm. Those coalesce with Young. Talking about the case brought tears to Sharp's eyes and emotion choked his speech. "If there was any way I could have not given him life in prison I would have done it," he said. "What they did was wrong, they deserved some time in prison, but not life." Read a transcript of the sentencing at the end of this story. 'What we do kind of defines who we are' Some of Sharp's motivation to move jobs was rooted in his path to becoming a lawyer more than 20 years ago. The Memphis native held odd jobs after high school: as an airport baggage handler, at a car wash — and even carrying a baseball bat around a gas station making sure self- service customers paid. "I’d go hey, you pay for that? I thought, this is not really a career." He enlisted in U.S. Navy. He was stationed in Hawaii, Alaska, the Philippines, Japan and Thailand. Despite the cultural differences, there was a common thread. “I realized that, what we do kind of defines who we are," he said. "People meet me and they go, 'Nice to meet you Kevin, what do you do?' "All this stuff gets layered on there. They make stereotypical decisions about who you are and what you’re like." Whether those assumptions are right or wrong, Sharp said he grew to believe that a person's opportunity to work needed to be protected, which attracted him to employment law. "African Americans, women, ethnic minorities, religious minorities don’t have the same opportunities," he said. "That to me is something that’s important, making sure the playing field gets leveled." 'Money makes the world go round' Sharp went to Vanderbilt Law School and then into private practice. President Barack Obama nominated him for the Nashville judgeship six years ago. Work on the bench was intellectually challenging, and fun, he said. But Sharp saw that cases presenting significant issues came along unpredictably, and he couldn't choose the issues. One example: The legal challenge to a private probation company in Rutherford County, in which several probationers said they were being punished because they couldn't pay. In one hearing, Rutherford County General Sessions Judge Ben McFarlin Jr. testified. "I thought, Oh my God, no," Sharp recalled his reaction in court that day. "Money is not what makes the justice system go round. "That’s not just morally wrong, it’s illegal. It's unconstitutional." But in other high-profile cases his hands were tied by the law, and rulings countered what Sharp personally believed. He named specifically a case brought by a family against Nashville schools alleging discrimination in the district's rezoning plan. In 2012, Sharp ruled that although the effect of the district policy was segregation, the plaintiff did not prove the intent was discrimination. "The proof wasn’t there and the law wasn’t on their side," he said. "If I was director of schools, I’d go, scrap this." Returning to private practice, Sharp can choose the issues he tackles. "As a lawyer I can be more proactive," he said. "I can say things I want to say. I can take cases I want to take. I can advocate for positions that I want to advocate for — as opposed to waiting as a judge, do I get that case or not?" A sticking point during Sharp's time on the bench were criminal cases, colloquially known as "drugs and guns" cases, that required mandatory minimum sentences. "The drugs-and-guns cases, you say it like that and it sounds like they’re all dangerous," he said. "Most of them are not. They’re just kids who lack any opportunities and any supervision, lack education and have ended up doing what appears to be at the time the path of least resistance to make a living." 'Maybe somebody can fix this' Young's was a drugs-and-guns case. He was charged in December 2010, one of 32 people — some of them gang members — who federal prosecutors said were involved in drug trafficking in Clarksville. Court documents say federal agents believed Young was buying crack cocaine from a leader of the ring at a gas station. He was charged with conspiracy to distribute cocaine and crack cocaine and other counts. Young had two prior drug-dealing convictions, and his new charges triggered a provision of federal law requiring a mandatory life term if found guilty. Young and two others went to trial in August 2013 and were found guilty. About a year later, Sharp sentenced Young to life in prison. At the hearing, Young described his upbringing: His mother was a drug addict, he said, and at times their house had no lights nor water. When he was old enough to get a job, he worked at a funeral home, but he felt a growing divide between himself and others in his neighborhood who dealt drugs, pulling him that way. Hallie McFadden, a lawyer who defended Young, said each time she saw Sharp after the sentencing he asked about Young. "I'm heartsick to see him go," she said of Sharp, "especially with the prospect of someone far less caring taking the seat." Jim Thomas, a Nashville lawyer who later represented Young during his appeals and has had other cases in Sharp's courtroom, said Sharp was a "very capable and fair minded judge." That was exemplified in Sharp's words at Young's sentencing, according to Thomas. "Maybe somebody can fix this," Sharp told Young. Maybe that somebody is Sharp. Sharp says he will work to get Young's sentence commuted, meaning Young would be released from prison. It could take years, leaving Young behind bars for a decade. Man cuts own throat, dies after verdict in federal courtroom. FARGO, N.D. (AP) — Federal authorities say a man on trial in Fargo, North Dakota, slashed his own throat in the courtroom Monday and died. North Dakota U.S. Marshal Dallas Carlson said the incident happened after a jury returned a partial guilty verdict against the man, who had faced terrorizing-related charges. Carlson said the man had a sharp instrument that might have been made of plastic. Carlson said the jury had left the courtroom, but U.S. District Judge Peter Welte, courtroom staff and others witnessed the incident. Court security officers and deputy marshals attempted live-saving measures in the courtroom. FBI spokesman Kevin Smith said the man had been acquitted on one charge and found guilty on the other charge, and was about to be taken into custody. “He did the self-harm after he heard the verdict and after the jury had left the courtroom,” Smith said. He did not know of which charge the man had been convicted. Court documents show that in the last week Welte had been presiding over a jury trial for a North Dakota man who was charged with reckless endangerment and assault for allegedly running someone over with a Jeep. He also faced a terrorizing charge on accusations he brandished a weapon. Welte on Monday filed a court document approving meals for the jury during deliberations. Welte did not return a message left Thursday in his chambers. Smith said the FBI has opened an investigation. “We need to officially document what happened in that federal courtroom today,” he said. “All the questions you have, we have. What was the sharp object, how did it get into the courtroom, those questions, what did people see him do.” Kevin Sharp, 'Nobody Knows' country singer, dies at 43. Kevin Sharp, a country music singer who overcame a rare form of bone cancer to top the charts with songs like "Nobody Knows," died Saturday at age 43, his personal assistant Sue Veldkamp confirmed to NBC News. Sharp's website stated that he died in Fair Oaks, Calif., at 10:49 p.m. on April 19 "due to ongoing complications from past stomach surgeries and digestive issues." Born in Redding, Calif., Sharp grew up in Idaho and was diagnosed with Ewing's sarcoma as a high school senior. Given a bleak prognosis, he was granted a wish by the Make-A-Wish Foundation and met producer and performer David Foster, who became a friend and mentor to the aspiring musician. After two years of radiation and chemotherapy, Sharp went into remission in 1991 and began recording music. He released his debut album, "Measure of a Man," in 1996; the first single, "Nobody Knows" topped U.S. and Canadian country charts. Sharp also charted with several other singles, including, "She's Sure Taking It Well" and "If You Love Somebody." He released two other albums: "Love Is," in 1998 and "Make A Wish" in 2005. His final single, "Let Me Rock You to Sleep," was released in 2011. "It was such an honor and pleasure to participate in Kevin's Make-A-Wish day some 20 years ago," Foster said in a statement to TODAY. "None of us could have possibly known how that day would profoundly change Kevin's life, propelling him into a world filled with music and allowing the world to fall in love with all of his musical talents. He gave so much of himself to others, not just with music but with his story, a life filled with adversity and compromised health, it remains one of my proudest moments to be a small part of his success. I will miss him dearly." In addition to his music career, Sharp began motivational speaking and was a spokesperson for the Make-A-Wish Foundation. He published "Tragedy's Gift" in 2004 about his battle with cancer. "If he were here, he'd want to stress that the Make-A-Wish Foundation granted him a wish at 18 years old, and he credits that wish with saving his life," said Veldkamp, adding any donations in Sharp's memory should be sent to the Foundation.