New state law sets stage for lifer's release

A Jefferson Parish man serving life in prison for raping a woman when he was 15 years old is now eligible for parole under a state law passed this year in response to a U.S. Supreme Court order.

The Times-Picayune reports 46-year-old Jerome Richardson is the first of 10 juvenile lifers who were prosecuted as adults in Jefferson Parish of crimes other than murder whose sentences are modified under the new law that became effective Aug. 1.

Richardson has served about 30 years of the life sentence for a 1981 aggravated rape conviction.

Statewide, there are 48 people eligible for parole after serving 30 years of their sentences.