Native juvenile lifer seeks reprieve amid push for leniency

FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. — Shortly after Riley Briones Jr. arrived in federal prison, he cut his long, braided hair in a symbolic death of his old self.

As a leader of a violent gang and just shy of 18, Briones drove the getaway car in a robbery turned deadly on the Salt River Pima—Maricopa Indian Community outside Phoenix in 1994. He was convicted of murder and given a mandatory sentence of life without parole.

In prison, he has been baptized a Christian, ministers to other inmates who call him Brother Briones, got his GED and has a spotless disciplinary record, his attorneys say in their latest bid to get the now 45-year-old's sentence cut short.

https://indiancountrytoday.com/news/native-juvenile-lifer-seeks-reprieve-amid-push-for-leniency