‘Correct this injustice’: Man convicted in Orangeburg County robbery freed after ‘overly harsh’ sentence (2024)

A 46-year-old prison inmate sentenced to life without parole is now free following a hearing held in Orangeburg on Wednesday.

Pete Shalamar Bryant, of St. George, was 19 when he and two friends went on a three-county crime spree in December 1996.

Bryant and his two friends admitted to three armed robberies – one each in Orangeburg, Jasper and Colleton counties.

His friends were sentenced under the Youthful Offender Act and received probation, but not Bryant. He’s served 27 years in prison.

“I believe the main cause for this injustice is because of the actions of the 1st Circuit Solicitor’s Office back in 1997 and it is my duty to fix it,” 1st Circuit Solicitor David Pascoe said Wednesday.

Bryant had no criminal history before the armed robberies.

Pascoe said the 1st Circuit Solicitor’s Office and Bryant’s then-attorney allowed Bryant to plead guilty to the armed robberies he committed in the 14th Judicial Circuit on July 8, 1997. The Orangeburg armed robbery charge was pending.

Bryant asked to plead guilty to the Orangeburg armed robbery too.

Pascoe said Bryant never got a chance.

Less than a month after Bryant pleaded guilty to the two other armed robberies, the 1st Circuit Solicitor’s Office filed a court notice that it intended to seek a “life without parole” sentence for Bryant, Pascoe said.

The position of the 1st Circuit Solicitor’s Office then was that Bryant then had “two strikes” after pleading guilty to the two other armed robberies.

Once the solicitor’s office filed a motion to seek life without parole, the circuit judge hearing the case was stripped of his ability to exercise discretion during the sentencing phase, Pascoe said.

Bryant told Pascoe that the trial judge tried to get the solicitor’s office to withdraw the life without parole motion, but the solicitor’s office refused and the case went to trial instead.

An Orangeburg County jury convicted Bryant on Dec. 11, 1997 and Circuit Judge Luke Brown had no choice but to sentence him to prison for life without parole, Pascoe said.

Over the years, Bryant has fought to have his sentence reconsidered and seemed to have exhausted all avenues in the court system.

Bryant and Orangeburg NAACP President Barbara Williams got in contact with each other recently, Pascoe said.

Williams brought Bryant’s situation to Pascoe’s attention as a last-ditch effort to find relief, he said.

Pascoe filed a motion for the state to withdraw Bryant’s life without parole notice that was filed back in 1997, eight years before Pascoe took office. He said his office has the ability to withdraw such notices submitted by former solicitors.

“This is the procedural remedy to correct this injustice where an overly harsh and disproportionate sentence has been imposed on Mr. Bryant,” Pascoe said.

Just after noon on Wednesday, Circuit Judge Diane Goodstein accepted Pascoe’s motion to withdraw the 1997 filing the 1st Circuit Solicitor’s Office made for the life without parole sentencing.

Pascoe asked Goodstein to consider a more appropriate sentence for Bryant.

Pascoe and Williams weren’t the only ones who supported the motion to withdraw the state’s life without parole motion for Bryant.

Orangeburg County Sheriff Leroy Ravenell, S.C. Department of Corrections Director Bryan Stirling, forensic psychiatrist Dr. Harold Morgan and Orangeburg armed robbery victim Loretta McMillan Owens are a few of the people who were in court to support the decision of the solicitor’s office.

Owens, who’d testified against Bryant during his trial on the Orangeburg armed robbery charge, didn’t attend Bryant’s sentencing phase when the trial ended.

She said on Wednesday that she didn’t feel sorry for Bryant during his trial.

“I actually felt sorry for his mother and any of his family,” Owens said.

She said she didn’t know he was serving a life sentence until attorney Chris Kenney called her a few weeks ago.

Kenney, at Pascoe’s request, had agreed to be one of the attorneys representing Bryant for free, Pascoe said. Attorney Phil Barber also represented Bryant at no cost.

Owens, from the witness stand, looked at Bryant on Wednesday and said she looked at him as a prodigal son who strayed away, referencing a parable told by Jesus in the Bible.

“I pray this court will give you mercy. Know that I forgive you and you can go home,” she said to Bryant.

“And when he gets home, give him a feast for finding his way back home,” she said. “I really pray that.”

“I’ve called your name out before God ever since I was contacted” by Kenney, Owens said. “I’ve been praying for you. You’ve been on my prayer list.”

“Everybody deserves forgiveness. Everybody in this courtroom has made a mistake, maybe not as bad as yours, but we all have,” she said.

“Everybody’s got a closet full of skeletons that they don’t want nobody to know about and I pray you go home, son,” she said. “I really do.”

“My church is the Ministry of Reconciliation and when you come home and you need a church home, if you don’t have one, we will be glad to accept you, son,” Owens said.

Throughout Bryant’s 27 years in prison, he’s been a model inmate, according to Stirling.

Bryant obtained his GED, earned multiple certificates for completing programs and is currently enrolled in college to obtain his degree as a paralegal.

Stirling said inmates may choose to stay in their cells and eat three meals a day and do nothing else, but that’s not what Bryant chose.

Bryant was also housed at a medium-custody prison in the “character dorms,” which are reserved for inmates with exceptionally good behavior and conduct.

Goodstein considered multiple testimonies of witnesses who supported Bryant. She also considered Bryant’s plans and goals during his resentencing.

“I believe that what I would have done and what I believe to be appropriate today, would be a sentence of 15 years and I would’ve run them concurrently, not consecutively,” Goodstein said.

Goodstein said she would’ve taken Bryant’s age into consideration in sentencing too.

“Obviously, you get credit for 27 years, time served,” she said. “Good luck to you.”

Bryant told the court that he will live in a transitional housing site in the Upstate for six months to a year. The site has job opportunities available for its residents.

After three years, Bryant said he plans to start a food truck and then open a restaurant a few years after that.

After the hearing ended, Bryant and Pascoe spoke with news media.

Pascoe said, “This is one of the biggest injustices I’ve seen and I’m glad Judge Goodstein agreed with me. He should’ve never been served with life without parole.”

“This is one of the best days I’ve had in 30 years of being a prosecutor. I’ve put notorious killers, sociopaths on death row. I’ve put a lot of people away for life without parole – but I never got joy in that. Today is joy. Today is one of the most joyous days I’ve ever had,” Pascoe said.

“If there are injustices out there, let the floods begin. I don’t believe that there will be an opening of the floodgates because I don’t know that there is any injustice like this,” Pascoe said.

Pascoe said he will continue to speak up for those who are imprisoned unjustly, like Bryant.

“I’m going to speak up and do everything I can to make sure justice is done,” he said.

Bryant said, “I’m doing excellent.

“There’s no words to describe the level of joy I feel right now.”

Bryant said he’s been fighting for justice for 27 years. Even so, he doesn’t feel angry for being incarcerated for longer than necessary.

“The only anger that I have was towards myself for putting myself in that type of predicament. Had I not chose to do what I did, I would not have been in these circ*mstances, so that’s where my anger lies,” he said.

“I was angry with myself and when I began to accept responsibility for my actions, I was able to see things a whole lot clearer,” he said.

He also has a message for those who may consider making irresponsible decisions.

“It’s not worth it. You’ve got your whole life ahead of you. Decisions you make today will not only affect you, but will affect your family, community and you better think before you act. Take time out and gain perspective. Prioritize what’s important to you. That’s the best advice I can give,” he said.

Bryant said his decision to commit three armed robberies was partly due to peer pressure and “just us being bad, bored and nothing to do.”

“They say, ‘An idle mind is the devil’s playground.’ If you don’t fill it with anything positive, negativity is going to seep in and I think that’s exactly where we were at,” he said.

“We didn’t have a lot of positive influences in our lives and we were just left up to our own devices and we chose to do wrong,” he said.

“I thank Ms. Williams with all my heart. If it weren’t for her initiating the process, I would still be trying to fight the courts myself,” he said.

Bryant said his immediate plans are to get hugs and kisses from his family.

As for his plans for a food truck, Bryant said, “I like to cook soul food with a twist.”

He also enjoys baking.

Bryant said he’ll also speak to groups of youth as needed to encourage them to make wise choices.