Colorado victim and perpetrator become friends, share restorative justice
In a circle of chairs filled with young people, many who have had contact with the justice system, two men whose lives were intertwined at the worst moment sit and tell their story. Jason Kasperek is a crime victim but says transparency of his own past led him to forgiveness of the two men sent to prison for 98 years each for a violent 1998 armed robbery at the Blockbuster store where Kasperek was a young manager.
Michael Clifton spent 24-and-a-half years in prison, but now released with the support of Kasperek, joined him Monday evening to talk to a room full of young people who've had contact with the juvenile justice system, family, friends, and other restorative justice advocates.
"I didn't fully understand or grasp not just the victim of the crime on Jason. But to his family, to my family, and to the community," Michael Clifton told the gathering.
Clifton now works with a nonprofit called Remerg, helping ex-convicts return to society without recidivism.
"He's my brother from another mother and you know he calls my mom. He reaches out to her all the time. We try to get together at least once a month," explained Clifton later.
"That's why me and Michael do this now," said Jason Kasperek. "Let people see the forgiveness. The youth doesn't understand it anymore. They see it as a weakness… As far as forgiveness, it has pretty much become extinct inside of the United States."
Kasperek found out the other man convicted in the crime, Rene Lima-Marin was released 90 years early on his 98-year sentence years after the release. There had been a paperwork error, the state said. Lima-Marin had gotten out and led a law-abiding life with a new wife when the mistake was discovered and he was taken back into custody six years later.
Lima-Marin wanted to apologize to Kasperek in person. Kasperek was still suffering nightmares, but in 2018, he agreed to the meeting, an idea generated by CBS Colorado reporter Rick Sallinger. After an emotional session, he accepted the apology and turned to the process of restorative justice and forgiveness.
"The one person that helped me see that, that brought me into this was Rick Sallinger," he said about Sallinger's facilitating of the meeting and helping him with the realization.
Clifton however, remained in prison and began to seek clemency. Kasperek met with him and separately, his family, telling them he would do what he could to support it. The governor's office contacted Kasperek before releasing him in 2023 after 24-plus years.
A thankful and tearful Clifton said he would live a changed life. By all indications, that is what he has done.
"I'm learning. It's a completely new world, but I'm definitely excited for my life and where I'm at right now. And the things that I'm doing," he said Monday. He learned during the time he spent in prison, of the hurt Jason Kasperek still suffered during court hearings about Lima-Marin.
"That pain was still there. That was so hard for me I was sitting in a cell watching it and I broke down."
Now they impart their stories together, as close friends.
"It is about us doing something together. Because there's meaning to our story. There's purpose in my life in what I do now, but there's purpose in us sharing our story together. Definitely, we want to have an impact on the youth."
Kasperek talks of his own realizations over the stiff penalties Clifton and Lima-Marin were given, which he initially backed.
"You have to be transparent with yourself about who you are, and what has happened, he said, explaining that he'd been forgiven through the years by family and friends for transgressions that were certainly far less severe than armed robbery, but still part of his life. "Forgiveness then turns into hope for the both of you," he explained, "Because forgiveness sets you free, just as much as it does the other person."
And the recurring nightmares- are gone.
"After I met with Rene and after I met with Michael, it just kind of all washed away. And it freed me from my life term. After I helped them free Michael from his life sentence."
