A Las Vegas nonprofit group that helps individuals transition out of jail introduced Friday that it’s going to title its new facility after Billy Walters.
HOPE for Prisoners, a Las Vegas-based nonprofit that helps people transition out of the felony justice system, will likely be shifting into a brand new facility later this yr, due to a donation from Billy Walters and his spouse. The brand new facility will likely be named after the famend sports activities bettor. (Picture: HOPE for Prisoners/Fb)
Walters, the legendary sports activities bettor, and his spouse, Susan, made a “substantial reward” to HOPE for Prisoners, in accordance with a launch from the group. That contribution will assist fund The Billy Walters Heart for Second Probabilities, which is scheduled to open in April.
HOPE for Prisoners works with individuals who have been incarcerated and gives them help and providers they want as they transfer on to the following part of their lives. The brand new facility will present such providers as vocational and life-skills coaching, job and academic alternatives, and counseling.
Public businesses just like the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Division and private-sector teams akin to The Vegas Chamber present help for the group, which runs an 18-month re-entry program. The most recent commencement ceremony befell on Friday.
Jon Ponder, HOPE’s president and CEO, stated the Walters donation will assist remodel a whole lot of lives within the area.
“His ardour to influence different justice-involved members of our group is commendable, and we couldn’t be extra grateful that he has chosen to help the mission of HOPE for Prisoners,” Ponder stated in a launch.
About Billy Walters
After making a reputation for himself in Las Vegas as a prolific sports activities bettor beginning within the Eighties, Billy Walters was convicted of insider buying and selling by a federal jury in April 2017 and sentenced to 5 years in jail. Within the spring of 2020, on the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, he was transitioned to dwelling incarceration. That’s as a result of his age and the very fact he had served greater than half of his time period made him eligible for a program established within the CARES Act.
President Trump then commuted his sentence simply earlier than leaving workplace in January 2021, reducing almost a yr off the time he was presupposed to serve.
Walters has lengthy disputed the federal case in opposition to him, and had accused federal officers of leaking grand jury info to the media. An lawyer representing Walters in a civil case in opposition to the previous US lawyer and FBI investigator who led the case in opposition to him stated the famous gambler believes others had their rights violated similarly, however didn’t have the sources to pursue their instances.
A federal decide, although, dismissed that case final September, citing the three-year statute of limitations had expired.
“System is Damaged”
Walters, in an announcement, stated his expertise made him understand simply how important applications like HOPE for Prisoners had been in communities.
I can let you know firsthand that the jail system is damaged, and with out applications like this, newly launched inmates shouldn’t have an opportunity,” he stated.
Greater than 450 individuals graduate from the Las Vegas program yearly. However Walters stated extra must be accomplished.
“There are 2 million individuals within the nation’s prisons and jails—a 500% improve during the last 40 years,’’ he stated. “I’m hopeful that, with this new facility, extra individuals and organizations will see the success of this program and emulate it across the nation.”
The donation to HOPE for Prisoners is simply the most recent contribution Walters has made. Final August, he gave $1 million towards protecting the price of altering the title of McCarran Worldwide Airport in Las Vegas to honor Harry Reid. That title change formally befell in mid-December, simply two weeks earlier than the previous US Senate Democratic chief handed away.
