Joshua Acosta shares his story, his remorse and his determination to make amends.
My name is Joshua C. Acosta, I am currently twenty-three years old and I’m serving out a sentence of Life Without the possibility of Parole. Before the commission of my crime, I achieved things that I believe most men my age no longer consider important. I was valedictorian and received honors awards at my high school graduation. After that, I served as a firefighter, was a college student, and dedicated myself to serve my country as a soldier in the U.S. army where I was stationed in FT. Irwin California.
The most important things to me are my family and the positive friends that I’ve made while incarcerated. Nothing would make me happier than to show them that my sentence has been commuted and to see their smiles. What I’m truly troubled by is the state of anger and rage I was in during the commission of the crime. I willingly and knowingly destroyed a whole family and damaged my own while throwing my life away over a problem that had nothing to do with me.
By taking the law into my own hands, I used vigilante justice as a means to take a life. I realize that my only way to redemption and freedom was to identify my own problems and fix them so I can make amends with those that I’ve victimized. The way I’m going to redeem myself is by actively participating in every possible self- help, religious, and education group that I can.
I am currently an active member of the L.W.O.P. Alliance and those members have given me hope that I can work towards my freedom. I’m also returning to college to obtain my Associates degree in science and then move on to my Bachelor’s degree in science.
Respectfully,
Joshua C. Acosta