50 Cent and Isaac Wright Jr. hope 'For Life' series will encourage 'bigger' criminal justice discussion
The series is based on Isaac Wright Jr.'s story of being wrongfully convicted.
Executive producer Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson and the man whose true story inspired the new legal drama series "For Life" Isaac Wright Jr., opened up about how they hope the television show will shed light on America's criminal justice system.
Wright was an entrepreneur and music producer prior to being indicted and charged with leading a cocaine trafficking ring in 1989. Two years later in 1991, Wright was found guilty of all charges and sentenced to life in prison under New Jersey's drug kingpin law and sent to the maximum security New Jersey State Prison in Trenton.
While serving time, Wright -- who only held a high school diploma -- began studying the law and worked as a paralegal for other prisoners' cases.
During ABC News' Black History Month Speaker Series on Tuesday, Wright said, "I wasn't just learning, teaching myself the law in fighting my cases that was on the street and fighting other people's cases" during the seven and a half years he was incarcerated.
After spending over seven years in prison, Wright got his sentence overturned and charges dismissed, but not before he was offered a deal that would guarantee him to be home and out of prison in two years, he told "Good Morning America" co-anchor Michael Strahan in ABC News' Black History Month Speaker Series.
"I was not about to give them a single second of my life. I'd rather spend the rest of my life in prison trying to get out even though I could be home in two years then to give them another second of my life," Wright said of his reaction to the deal. "So I rolled the dice."
He spent the next seven years undertaking a career in law. He graduated from Saint Thomas University School of Law in 2007 and passed the New Jersey Bar in 2008.On Sept. 27, 2017, Wright was officially sworn in as a licensed attorney by the New Jersey Supreme Court.
On Tuesday, 50 Cent told "The View" co-hosts why he felt the need to make Wright's experience into a television series after learning about his story.
"I think it will start a conversation that's bigger not just to people that are socially conscious, but people are just entertained by it," 50 Cent said. "They'll be able to feel the emotional journey of the character and be a little more invested in it because of that."
Wright also spoke on his feelings about the public getting a glimpse into the inequities he and others endured in the justice system. "It's an incredible feeling. You know, one of the disappointments about -- for me, personally about being released -- is that I left thousands of people behind."
"Now that 'For Life' is here, and here for everyone, it gives me the ability to touch millions at the same time," Wright added.
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