At the age of 15, Fabian Vasquez came to the United States from Mexico for what he hoped would be a better life. But by age 20, he was convicted and sentenced to 15 years to life for second-degree murder.
Vasquez spent 15 years in prison before the parole board determined he was no longer a danger to public safety and ordered his release. After being freed, he was deported to Mexico. He said he now wants his story to be an example for everyone as to how they should avoid a life of drugs.
When Vasquez was five years old, his father left Patzcuaro Michoacán in Mexico and came to the United States to try to earn money for his family. Ten years later, Vasquez and his family joined his father in California.
He attended Channel Islands High School in Oxnard, Calif. and then Amos Alonzo Stagg High School in Stockton and at both places encountered problems connecting with other students because of his trouble with English.
At age17, Vasquez began his first job as a part-time busboy in a restaurant to help his family. He said that was where he learned to work hard like his father who worked in the fields. When agriculture was out of season, his father made money in construction and janitorial work cleaning floors in Walgreen stores.
Because of his deficiencies in English, Vasquez did not graduate from high school. So, he found work and obtained his first and only illegal identification card. He began going to night clubs, but did not drink too much because of the ethics his father taught him.
Vasquez said that one day he did not come home and felt guilty when he lied to his father about where he had been. However, after some time, the nightlife scene led him to begin selling drugs, and the bad feelings about lying to his father went away as the money flowed in.
Vasquez sold drugs as a way to earn extra money; half of his paycheck went to his father, as he explained is the custom for Mexicanos who live in their parents’ homes.
Selling cocaine made Vasquez a popular person in the club scene. People began to notice and respect Vasquez because of how he conducted himself, which led him to meet more and more people involved in the drug trade.
As he made more money, Vasquez went to buy a new car, and was told that because of his line of work, his car should not be flashy as to not attract attention from authorities.
In January of 1998, he decided to begin buying and selling his own drugs and develop his own clientele. Eventually, he was doing so well with money that he bought a fancy new car and began transporting large amounts of cocaine – everything he was told not to do.
In February, he quit his job and planned to settle down with his new girlfriend. But on March 11, 1998, Vasquez, his girlfriend and a male friend were all arrested for the murder of Martin Ortega, a man who had owed Vasquez money.
Vasquez said his male friend was given a sentence of 50 years to life, and in an attempt to receive a lighter sentence, he immediately revealed everything that had happened. Six months later — on September 25 1998 — all three were sentenced to 15 years to life.
However, even after the judge had delivered his sentence, Vasquez was allowed to stay in the local jail for a month because his father was diagnosed with a tumor in his lower back and was told that he probably would not survive. His father made it, but Vasquez was devastated that the operation had put his dad in a wheelchair for life.
Vasquez was sent to Lancaster State Prison where he said he was always on lock down and that there were no programs, and that he didn’t want anything to do with them anyway. All he thought about was the wrong he had done, and he quietly struggled with how he went from having everything to getting a life sentence.
At the time, he believed that with the no-parole policy of then Governor Gray Davis that he would spend the rest of his life in prison.
In 2000, he was transferred to Pleasant Valley State Prison, and began attending AA meetings only because he wanted them to start a Spanish AA. But in the process, Vasquez began hearing stories that were similar to his.
He soon started to see how others benefited from the programs they were involved in, so he learned English, math and took anger management, breaking barriers, and even a correspondence Bible course. He started to identify faults in his character that also made him aware of the gravity of his crime.
In 2002, just when he was starting to grasp the importance of these programs, Vasquez was transferred to Folsom State Prison. When the inmates were not on lockdown, Vasquez participated in group programs. When they were on lockdown, he and his cellmate took a correspondence course called “Crimminon.” He said it made him realize the impact of what his victim’s family was going through for the first time.
In 2004, he was transferred to Corcoran State Prison, which offered very few programs and had a lot of violence. Vasquez said that when the inmates were not on lock down he attended the 12-step AA program in Spanish and met with a group of prisoners who wanted to help themselves; it was with these men he started looking at what programs would help him.
In March 2011, Vasquez was transferred to San Quentin State Prison. He said he could not believe the freedom he was given; because he was used to being around violence, it took him four months just to adjust. He decided he wanted to continue participating in programs, and did so with the assistance of tutors, particularly a teacher named Mr. Shimmel. Vasquez fondly remembers Shimmel saying to him, “I will help you finish what you tried to do at Corcoran.”
“He is a good teacher that really takes an interest in helping prisoners. I wish every prison had teachers like him,” Vasquez said.
Ten months later, Vasquez took the GED and passed. Immediately, he got into the college program with Patten University and continued with AA, and completed the Green Life Program, which he said helped him understand the importance of preserving our planet.
In October 2012, Vasquez appeared before the parole board for the second time. He said his commitment to the programs made it easy for him to communicate to the board how he had changed, and the board commended him for his transformation. After five hours in the boardroom, he was found suitable for parole.
However, Vasquez was deported back to Mexico in March of 2013. He said he wants to tell his story because he wants other Mexicanos to learn English and take the programs seriously. He said that you must learn to forgive yourself first, because only then can you understand the impact you have made to your victims families and communities.
“When you learn to be truthful you will not fail. Don’t just do the programs for the board, do it for yourself,” he said.
