Several members of the Florida House Democratic Caucus today joined others in urging the Florida Parole Commission to release a Haitian-American woman from prison who is living with AIDS and dying from cancer. And on Wednesday, the Commission agreed.
In a 2-1 vote, the Parole Commission voted to release Betsie Gallardo, who is serving a five-year sentence in the Florida Prison system. In addition to being HIV-positive, Gallardo has been diagonised with gall-bladder cancer.
Gallardo, 24, has been in prison for just over a year, having been sentenced for spitting on a Collier County Sheriff’s deputy while HIV-positive, which is considered a bio-weapon.
Gallardo, born in Haiti, was HIV-positive from birth. Orphaned and repeatedly raped by a police officer in her country of birth, she was adopted and brought to America. A traffic accident a couple of years ago, brought police to her home, where she suffered a traumatic flashback of her repeated sexual assaults in Haiti, and over-reacted to local law enforcement officers.
Now it appears, with whatever little time Gallardo has left, she will be able to spend her dying days at home, in view of the Parole Commission’s vote.
