(*) = Details are noted in my blogs

Born and raised in Yakima, Washington, and also raised in its “blink and they’re gone” surrounding towns (Wapato and Union Gap), my six brothers and I were taught the meaning of old-fashioned values–respect your elders, treat people right, revere God, etc. But the values taught us were loosely practiced in our home and by close family friends.

After my parents separated, my stepfather came into the picture and raised my siblings and I until my early teens. From that point on my mother, for the most part, raised us a single parent. Being a middle child and undeniably a momma’s boy, I embraced the mediator role in the family. I was also the designated Macgyver of the family when it came to fixing things, figuring out electronics and what have you.

As I took to elementary and middle-school education with notable ease, teachers approached my mother with requests to advance me. She refused. High school was different for me because it lacked the entertainment value of recess and was overly rigid for my free-spirited nature. This made it easier for me to gravitate to the extracurricular activity of skipping school with friends. The town accommodated our fun-seeking disposition with videogame arcades, swimming lakes, parks, and several other delinquent-laden hideout and hangout spots.

My family eventually migrated to Seattle, Washington, where the chickadees (my brothers and I) left the nest one by one. Needing work, I obtained my GED at South Seattle Community College. The GED teacher noted that in her 12 years of teaching, she never had a student basically walk into class, study with so strong a focus, and walk out with my high scores. It’s both a blessing and a curse I go off grid when I’m engrossed in completing a task or a challenge. During which, my relationships are placed on life support.

Peculiarly though, I read very little. I never liked reading anything that I wasn’t genuinely interested in, which was my Achilles heel in high school. Be that as it may, I’d “force read” myself if the material was required in furtherance of another goal. Ergo, I needed to read to get my GED, and I needed my GED to get a job. I later secured employment as a baker, a warehouse worker, a financial officer at Verizon Wireless, and a software tech at Microsoft.*

Fast forwarding to my college courses in prison, English and writing teachers were bewildered by my general reading aversion. After reading one of my academic essays, one of my UW (University of Washington) instructors suggested that perhaps she should tell her UW students to read less. She doted over the substance and force of my logic and reasoning, which has won me significant legal battles in court and countless administrative arguments.

For example, after advancing a religion-based argument against a well-established case law holding that permitted courts to leave prisoner legal financial obligations (LFOs’s) undisturbed, the court remitted over 12k of my LFO’s and refunded me nearly $500. The case law held that prisoners had the future ability to pay their LFO’s because they could win the lottery upon their release. In fact, an attorney who specialized in LFO cases held a lecture here at WSRU and said no one has won against this LFO case law.

My syllogistic argument was simple: (1) I adhere to Christianity as my religious faith, (2) particular Bible verses teach against worldly vices and financial irresponsibility, (3) gambling is a worldly vice and financially irresponsible, (4) playing the lottery is a form of gambling, and (5) in adherence to my religious faith, I do not and will not play the lottery in the future. It’s standard court procedure to hold a hearing on LFO matters. I requested to appear in court telephonically for my LFO hearing. The court bypassed the hearing, remitted my LFO’s, and the court clerk issued me a refund after I informed the court that I was being shortchanged by LFO overcollections.

And here I reside today, a prisoner at the Washington State Reformatory in Monroe, Washington.* After drafting and submitting a 52-page appellate brief (on 3/4/18) on my own behalf because my prior three appellate attorneys were ineffective in overlooking a case law I could have won on in 2006, I hope to be released sometime this year. God willing.

I’m currently working on two self-help books: “Lovehappy” (a relationship handbook based on religious principles) and “The Scrabble Dojo: Defensive Strategies for Beating Any Opponent.”

This is my flicker of life… thus far.

Warmest regards,
Jacob J. Gamet
DOC #883302

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CONTACT INFO
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Mailing Address:

Jacob J. Gamet DOC# 883302
MCC-WSRU D-215
PO Box 777
Monroe, WA 98272

Email Contact:

Go to Jpay.com and set up account.

Enter prisoner name: “Jacob Gamet”
Select state: “Washington”
Enter Prison ID#: “883302”

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PERSONAL PROFILE
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Hobbies:
Inventing things, playing Scrabble, writing nonfiction, helping others obtain justice, sightseeing, traveling

Religion:
Christianity

Food faves:
dim sum, fried chicken (my “guilty to the 3rd power” pleasure!), any-pie a la mode, tamales (guilty again!!)

Siblings:
6 brothers, no sisters

Birthplace:
Yakima, Washington
Born on 5/12/71 (Taurus)

Hometown:
Seattle, Washington

Ethnicity:
African-American, Hispanic, Filipino, Native-American, French

Children:
One son

Hgt:
6’1

Wgt:
200 lbs.

Relationship status:
Single, never married

Time incarcerated:
Since 2003 (15 years)
Eligible for work release on 10/10/21
Potential release: 2018 (Pending appeal)

Crime:
Attempted Murder