After 29 Years in Prison, Judge Grants Release for ‘Exemplary Inmate’ Sentenced to Life as a Teen

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In 1994, 17-year-old Anthony Sylvester Fair was sentenced to life in prison for the murders of Rodney Lamont, 17, and William Joseph Fortune, 38.

Fair, now 45, was 15 when he committed the drug-related shooting deaths of Lamont and Fortune on Jan. 20, 1993. He was charged and convicted of first-degree murder, second-degree murder, and two counts of using a handgun to commit a crime.

Last year, the Maryland General Assembly passed the Juvenile Restoration Act (JRA), which Fair’s lawyer, Allison Levine cited in her opening argument during a motions hearing on Sept. 16. The JRA allows prisoners convicted for life as juveniles to file motions to reduce their sentence.

During the virtual motions hearing, Fair addressed the daughter of one of the victims directly. “There are no words adequate enough to express the depths of my remorse,” he told her. “It was the worst decision of my life.”

“I’m emotionally torn,” said a family member of Fortune during her impact statement. “Mr. Fair took something from me that can never be replaced, but I wouldn’t want to be judged for what I did at fifteen.”

Fair and Levine both described his process of transformation in prison to better his life, including teaching classes in the prison library, conducting hundreds of violence prevention workshops, obtaining multiple degrees and certifications, and working with victim’s rights organizations and advocates for a decade.

During his hearing, Fair described his goals to implement restorative justice-related changes and mentorship programs for vulnerable youth in the city.

“I understand today all too well what I’ve put the families of the victim’s through,” Fair stated to the court. “Education is critical. I’ve learned from the crimes I’ve committed and the enormous impact of the consequences of those crimes.”

According to all parties, including the prosecution, Fair’s prison record was “remarkable,” with two minor infractions over 29 years. His history as an “exemplary inmate” was described several times by Levine, the prosecutor, and presiding Judge Yvette M. Bryant.

“I have never, ever come across an institutional record that was this clean,” Judge Bryant said of Fair’s incarceration. She told the court that Fair’s case is evidence that change is capable for young people in Baltimore. “I do believe that he has rehabilitated himself.”

The prosecutor also agreed that Fair’s remaining sentence should be suspended due to his extraordinary prison record and his acknowledgment of accountability and remorse.

With “no anxiety,” Judge Bryant granted the defense’s motion to modify Fair’s sentence, which was amended to life, suspending all but time previously served, with five years of probation.

Multiple family members of the defendant were also present on the zoom call and were seen cheering emotionally and crying tears of joy. “This is a story of redemption and transformation,” said Levine.

“The Juvenile Restoration Act was instituted for rehabilitation,” concluded Judge Bryant. “Decisions we make in youth are not necessarily indicative of who we will become.”