City Girls’ J.T.’s Request To Leave Prison Early Denied

City Girl’s J.T. filed a motion to be released to a halfway house with nine months left of her sentence but her request was denied.

J.T. is currently being behind bars at Federal Correctional Institution, Tallahassee for fraudulent credit card charges since July 2018. She filed a motion to be released to a halfway house nine months early before her sentence ends on March 21, 2020. On Tuesday, the court denied the motion indicating that it is up to the Bureau of Prisons to determine who gets released from prison early, not judges.

Her attorney points toward a provision of the First Step Act of 2018 that allows federal prisoners to spend more time out from behind bars and in pre-release custody, which would be a halfway house. According to the act, an inmate is given 54 days of good conduct credit for each year behind bars. On July 12, J.T. will have served a full year so that is 54 days of good conduct credit for her.

On the other hand, an inmate is given another 54 days of good conduct credit on the first day of the last year of their sentence. Since J.T.’s first day is on July 12, she would be granted another 54 days of conduct credit. These provisions mean that J.T. will have 108 days of good conduct credit on July 12, so she would have 8.4 more months of her sentence left to serve. J.T.’s attorney expects her to be released from prison and into a halfway house on September 21.

In the motion, J.T.’s attorney mentioned her membership of City Girls as a reason she should get special consideration for an early release

It is without hesitation that I can proffer that you will never hear from this Defendant regarding any type of crime, much less an economic one. Granting this recommendation will allow the defendant to get back to the studio where she belongs” the attorney said.

J.T.’s lawyer argued for J.T. (born Jatavia Johnson) to be released early than she would have ordinarily. Although the judge denied J.T.’s motion, the Bureau of Prisons can still grant it so there is still a possibility that J.T. may be released early.

Since she had turned herself in last summer, J.T. has been forced to experience the success of City Girls vicariously. Back in February, their single “Twerk” featuring Cardi B . peaked at No. 29 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, making it their biggest hit to date.  When speaking to XXL for the Fall 2018 edition of XXL Magazine, J.T. made it clear that she is looking forward to enjoy the rest of her success once she is released.

It’s kinda unbelievable because you don’t see much behind these walls. I don’t have Instagram or much here, so I have to go off what people tell me and I still don’t believe it. I can wait to come home to see and feel the love.”

Source: XXL