by Rene Tankersley, feature editor

Alan Dilts sleeps on a bunk inside an open-bay barracks with 57 other men and keeps his personal belongings, what little he has, in a portable locker.

The minimum-security prison camp houses non-violent prisoners, each man has an assigned work location. Every morning Alan walks almost a mile to the prison maintenance shop, where he usually sweeps unless they have cars and trucks needing repair or preventive maintenance. He could ride a bus to the shop, but prefers walking when the weather is nice.

Alan has estimated his release date as Nov. 18, 2002, with “good time.” He has heard that after serving three-quarters of his 30-month sentence, he could be eligible to move into a halfway house in Kansas City, MO, around August 2002 and get a job, and maybe a weekend pass. After six weeks to two months at the halfway house, Alan thinks he’ll get out on home confinement. Once his sentence is served, Alan says he probably will sign on somewhere as a company driver.

Land Line continues to receive many calls and letters regarding Alan’s story, all showing support for a fellow driver and OOIDA member. Some even suggested a letter-writing campaign requesting a sentence commutation or pardon from Texas Governor Rick Perry or President George W. Bush.

Several OOIDA members have inquired about what happened to Alan’s truck. For months, the Department of the Treasury U.S. Customs Service in Laredo, TX, has not answered Land Line’s request for this information.