At just 22 years old, Tennessee native Chris Young was sentenced to two life terms in prison. For many, such a sentence would have meant the end of dreams of higher education, family life and future opportunities. But after receiving clemency with the support of reality television star Kim Kardashian, the Black man has defied the odds and has officially crossed the graduation stage.
Growing up in poverty in Clarksville, Tenn., meant Young’s options were limited. As a teen, he turned to selling drugs to earn money, according to Fox 4 News. His life of petty crime eventually landed Young in trouble with the law.
“I didn’t have a biological father. I never met him or even seen a picture of him. And my mother suffered extreme crack cocaine addition,” he told Fox 4 News. “I didn’t sell drugs because I wanted to. I didn’t sell drugs because I thought it was cool. I thought it was the thing I needed to do to escape poverty.”
As a teenager, Young was already arrested twice. So once he stood before a judge for the third time at age 22, he was handed a devastating sentence. The state abides by federal “three strikes” laws, which were adopted under former President Bill Clinton. The laws mandated life imprisonment for federal offenders who have been convicted after two or more prior convictions, according to the BBC.
Critics of the law have long argued that it’s just another way to target people of color, even those accused of petty and non-violent crimes. A judge sentenced Young to two life sentences without the possibility of parole. He spent over a decade behind bars before his case caught the eye of Kardashian, who has used her platform to advocate for prison reform.
“It’s scary when you have a minor drug charge, but then you get life, and you’re stuck in this crazy maximum security prison with murderers,” she said of Young’s case back in 2018. She reportedly worked closely with President Donald Trump and the judge in Young’s case, who resigned shortly after his sentencing out of guilt.
“It was a mandatory sentence that he had to deliver, and he knew it was so wrong,” Kardashian said. “He was like, ‘I’m going to make this right, I’m going to step down, and I’m going to help to fight to get him out.’”
In 2021, President Trump granted Young clemency with the help of Kardashian’s advocacy, according to the New York Post. Now, in 2026, Young has officially become the first person in his family to graduate from college.
The now-37-year-old completed his degree in economics and public policy from Southern Methodist University, according to NBC News. Young says he the experience taught him some valuable life lessons.
“It was times where I saw myself being more successful, and it was times where I didn’t even see myself being alive,” he told NBC. “Your past is not to hinder you, it is to propel you, and the future is not to scare you, it is to motivate you.”
After obtaining his degree, Young is set to release his memoir, “The Wound Is Where the Light Enters: A Memoir of Resilience,” in August. The book details Young’s life from his childhood to his time in prison. According to the description, the book is a “story of a man who was never given a chance—and who fought until, at last, he was.”
