Troy Lawrence grew up in a muted greys of concrete and despair in Chicago Heights, Illinois. He lived within a pervasive fog of poverty where not much beyond arm’s reach could be seen or attained.

For Chicago Heights police, young Troy Lawrence was low-hanging fruit. Every month, the same two officers patroled Fifth Avenue arresting young Black boys. In the fall of 1992, 17-year old Troy was repeatedly arrested for possessing $10 “dimebags” of cocaine. Troy pled guilty each time, mostly because he was tired of sitting in the local jail. Troy was released after 120 days in a boot camp for young offenders. Youthful choices are often regretful. Troy didn’t know at the time that teenage mistakes triggered traps in America's criminal court system that would later contribute to his federal life sentence.

Years after Judge Wayne Anderson sentenced disgraced Chicago Heights police chief to 10 years in prison for dealing drugs and taking bribes, another Chicago Heights resident stood before the same judge: Troy Lawrence.

In Troy's case, Judge Anderson was powerless from the bench and unable to impose a fair sentence. The federal prosecutor argued Troy’s teen drug convictions at age 17 required him to receive a mandatory life sentence. America's 3 Strikes Drug Law left Judge Anderson no choice but to impose a “profoundly sad” sentence of life imprisonment.

The judge told the courtroom: “In my gut, in my heart, the decision in my mind was, ‘Should Troy Lawrence be sentenced to life or should he receive some lesser sentence?’ But the debate in my mind as a trial judge had to end when I realized that the [3 Strikes Drug Law] didn’t give me any choice.”