Billy Sinclair

Billy Sinclair

Billy Wayne Sinclair (born 1945) is a former prisoner at the Louisiana State Penitentiary (also known as Angola), convicted of first-degree murder and originally sentenced to death. His sentence was commuted to life in 1972. He became a notable journalist, known from 1978 for co-editing The Angolite with Wilbert Rideau; together they won some national journalism awards at the magazine, and were nominated for others. It published articles written by inmates at the prison. In 1987 Sinclair cooperated in a federal investigation at the prison of pardons-for-sale during the administration of Governor Edwin Edwards. No charges were made against Edwards but Howard Marcellus, head of the pardon board under the Edwards administration, was convicted of bribery following a state investigation. Sinclair was moved to isolation in other secure prison quarters because his cooperation put him at risk from other inmates. With support from some law enforcement organizations, he was paroled in 2006 to the state of Texas. He had married in 1982 by proxy and lives in Houston with his wife. He works as a paralegal.

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