Peach Tree Times

When Rashella Reed was sentenced to 14 years in prison for money laundering and wire fraud, she had earned a master’s degree and was a teacher in the Atlanta public schools and the DeKalb County school system.

At 48, Reed has been granted clemency by President Trump after serving six years of her prison sentence.

“Rashella was released on home confinement but she's required to wear an ankle monitor and she still had a number of years to serve,” said Alice Marie Johnson, CEO of Taking Action for Good Foundation. “This clemency has given her freedom. That ankle bracelet is coming off.”

While in prison, Reed put her advanced education to good use by schooling other inmates so they could earn their GED.

“Not only was she an educator as a free woman who was teaching at-risk children but she also helped so many women in prison,” Johnson told the Peach Tree Times. “Rashella is a very, very sweet and humble woman. Even in her free time, she would be out on the recreation field, tutoring people to help them pass. Rashella went above and beyond.”

Reed landed in prison after mistakenly withdrawing $10,000 from her retirement account to invest in what she thought was a business, the Baby Store, according to a documentary about Reed. The Baby Store allegedly was a fraudulent food stamp operation, according to a statement online, and Reed was charged with defrauding the federal government.

“Rashella was unaware that the investors were involved in fraudulent activities and even though she was a minor player, the masterminds were sentenced to less time than she was,” Johnson said in an interview. “These conspiracy laws have got to change in a way that minor players in a conspiracy scheme do not get such a harsh trial penalty.”

Unlike the scheme’s masterminds, Johnson reports that Reed did not receive a return on her $10,000 investment. Her first indictment read that the store earned $129,000 in profits but by the time of the trial, the monetary amount had increased to $11 million.

“Rashella got the trial penalty,” Johnson said. “Had she not gone to trial, she would have received a much lesser sentence.”

Prior to being incarcerated, Reed was pursuing a doctorate. Now that she’s freed, Johnson expects Reed to accept a job offer from one of her father's closest friends and to publish two children's books that she wrote while imprisoned.

“Her mother, a retired school teacher, and father, a retired fireman, sister, aunts, uncles and cousins have supported her while incarcerated,” Johnson said. “Rashella has options to live with either her parents or her sister, whose family recently refinished their full basement. The community has also rallied behind her family and are prepared to embrace and support Rashella.”