Does a photo show a death row inmate whose last wish was to write a letter to his mother?
Wednesday, July 14, 2021
By Kaiyah Clarke
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NO
The man in the photo accompanying a purported death row letter posted on social media was never on death row nor convicted of any crime serious enough to put him there.
He is Jeremy Meeks, who did time in prison for gun possession. The courtroom shot of Meeks in the post -- and his arrest mugshot that also appeared on social media -- caught public attention, and after Meeks was released in 2016, he became a model.
Not only does the misleading claim fail to mention the name of the man in the photo or identify the writer of the dramatic "letter," but it does not verify the origin of the photo. Meeks was scouted as a model after his mugshot and courtroom photos went viral on social media.
In 2020, ex-inmate Meeks launched his own fashion line.
This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.
Sources
New York Daily News Model prisoner: 'Hot convict' Jeremy Meeks sentenced to two years in federal prison
Fashion Maniac Model Jeremy Meeks Launches His Own Fashion Brand
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Lead Stories is a fact checking and debunking website at the intersection of big data and journalism that launched in 2015. It scouts for trending stories, images, videos and posts that contain false information in order to fact check them as quickly as possible. It actively monitors the fake-news ecosystem and doesn’t wait for reader tips or reports before getting started on a story.
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