JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Two Mississippi sisters, whose life sentences for armed robbery were suspended last week on the condition that one donate a kidney to the other, will be released from prison Friday.
Jamie and Gladys Scott will be released Friday from
the state prison in Rankin County, just east of Jackson and from there they'll
head to Florida, Corrections Commissioner Chris Epps said.
"We'll coordinate transportation with the
sisters' family," Epps told The Associated Press on Thursday. "I have
been told that the family is going to pick them up. If not, we will get them to
Florida."
Epps said the sisters would be formally told of
their release Thursday. He says Jamie Scott would undergo a dialysis treatment
Thursday.
"I have been told by our medical staff that
she would have no problem traveling by car to Pensacola," Epps said.
The sisters' mother and their children live in
Pensacola, Fla.
Epps said the sisters will be allowed to take
whatever personal property they have with them and any money they have in their
inmate accounts. He said the state also will supply them with 30 days of
medication.
Epps said once the sisters are in Florida, local
probation officials will take over their case.
Jamie and Gladys Scott were given life sentences
for their involvement in a 1993 armed robbery in Scott County that netted
anywhere from $11 to $200, based on court records.
The sisters are black, and their case has been a
cause celebre in the state's African-American community.
After 16 years in prison, Jamie Scott, 36, is on
daily dialysis, which officials say costs the state about $200,000 a year.
Gov. Haley Barbour agreed to release her because of
her medical condition, but 38-year-old Gladys Scott's release order says one of
the conditions she must meet is to donate the kidney within one year.
The idea to donate the kidney was Gladys Scott's
and she volunteered to do it in her petition for early release.
Associated Press writer Jack Elliott Jr.
contributed to this report.
Copyright 2011 The Associated Press.
(AP
Photo/Rogelio V. Solis, File)
