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Parole Board Chairman Terry Barnard told Ruffin that it isn’t easy getting paroled from a life sentence in Georgia and the board must determine when the offender has served enough time as punishment for the crime.
Barnard says the board was able to look at the crime and determined Ruffin had changed.
“You’ve changed,” Barnard said. "You’ve earned that privilege (parole) and while you’ve only been on parole for three years, you’ve done an extraordinary job for those three years,” he added.
“Every day that you are successful on parole you give hope to someone coming behind you. That is your calling right now,” stated Barnard.
Ruffin said he wants to continue to be involved in reentry.
“Anything you all want me to help with, reentry or anything, I’m here; I’m available. Thank you for giving me a chance,” Ruffin stated.
Former offender speaks to Parole Board that granted pardon
Suzanne Kilgore thanked the State Board of Pardons and Paroles for an opportunity that she’s been given to help her be successful in life.
Kilgore spoke to the five parole board members at their monthly meeting in March. Kilgore detailed her life of substance abuse, arrests that followed, and her eventual recovery.
“God’s plan for me was to use my story and my ‘lived-experience’ as a vessel to help others who suffer from addiction that they too can find recovery, have a life that is second to none, gain successful careers, even as convicted felons,” Kilgore stated.
Kilgore was convicted in 1987 in DeKalb County on drug related charges and given five years to serve on probation. She received another drug related conviction in Walton County and was sentenced to five years on probation in 2003. She received a pardon from the State Board of Pardons and Paroles for those convictions in November of 2017.
Kilgore is now a case manager with the Rockdale County Accountability Courts working for Superior Court Judge Robert Mumford and State Court Judge Nancy Bills. She has graduated college receiving a bachelor’s degree in psychology and she’s a certified addiction recovery empowerment specialist assisting others suffering from addiction.
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Monthly board Meetngs