The last time Zachary Perrino was sentenced, he thought his life was over. Any career ambitions or dreams he had would have to wait until he got out of prison.

After years of run-ins with the law, his petty crimes to feed his heroin dependency finally caught up to him in 2011. A Maricopa County Superior Court judge sentenced him to six years behind bars, the mandatory minimum under state law for his crimes of organized retail theft.

Perrino, 46, not only lost his freedom, but his second stint in prison also cost him his relationship with his father, he said.

Now, sober since 2014 and out of prison since 2017, Perrino, a former Mesa resident, lives in Prescott, where he works as a manager of a medical office.

He is also part of a grassroots organization of mostly formerly incarcerated people who will lobby the Legislature to approve a proposal — House Bill 2270 — to help prisoners earn more credit to be able to get out of prison faster.

"Going to prison for six years didn’t benefit me. The Department of Corrections didn’t correct me. You can’t punish without fixing," Perrino said. "Right now, it’s just one-sided. There’s just punishment, no fixing the problem.

"If you're going to incarcerate someone for a crime, I think you need to take a responsibility to fix the problem so they don’t keep re-offending."

At a 10 a.m. Tuesday news conference at the Arizona Capitol, Perrino and the American Friends Service Committee of Arizona will make its case for the bill.

The event will be led by Piper Kerman, author of the best-selling memoir-turned-Netflix series, "Orange Is the New Black."

Push for criminal-justice reform

The effort of the American Friends Service Committee is part of a national criminal-justice reform movement that has been decades in the making.

President Donald Trump in December signed into law a bill that had rare bipartisan support from lawmakers in Washington, D.C.

The federal law, known as the First Step Act, expands job training and other social programs that could help reduce recidivism rates among federal prisoners. It also will give judges more discretion when sentencing and change the federal mandatory minimum sentences for nonviolent drug offenders.

What the Arizona bill would do

Arizona's proposal, which is being sponsored by Republican Rep. Walt Blackman of Snowflake, would allow prisoners to earn more earned-release credit.

Those in prison for nonviolent, nonserious offenses could earn one day off for every day served.

If their offense is violent or aggravated, prisoners who don't have to serve 100 percent of their sentence could earn one day off for every three days served. The change would not include those convicted of dangerous crimes against children.

As it stands now, prisoners can earn a day off their sentences for every six days served.

The proposal doesn't provide social services to help prisoners re-enter their communities. But supporters said it could help get prisoners out sooner, allowing the state to save money and invest the savings into services that could help re-entry into society.

"The legislation provides hope to folks who are incarcerated, and that’s something that is sorely missing in Arizona prisons," said Joe Watson, a spokesman for the American Friends Service Committee in Arizona.

Watson met Perrino while they were both incarcerated.

Watson, an award-winning writer who worked for the Phoenix New Times, had been sentenced in 2010 to 12 years in prison for 10 counts of robbery. While unarmed, Watson pretended to have a gun to steal money from businesses to further his gambling addiction.

Watson had been dubbed by police as the "Salon Bandit" because two of the businesses he robbed were tanning salons.

Unlike some people who have gone to prison, Watson said he went in with a privileged life and social skills that helped him re-enter society after his time behind bars.

“I had a good experience before incarceration — getting a good education, and loved ones," he said. "Because I had those experiences, I was more prepared for the experience of incarceration and for re-entry.”

Healing a rift between father and son

Perrino didn't have the same opportunities, but he did have a familial support system that helped him recognize his errors and rejoin society.

After Perrino got out of prison the first time, where he served a year for unlawful means of transportation — in his case, taking a relative's car without permission — his father warned him that if Perrino ever went back to prison, he would cut off any communication with him.

When he did go back to prison, his father stood by his word.

“To turn your back on a son or a daughter — it's not easy," said Michael Perrino, Zachary's father.

The younger Perrino wrote letters to his father that went unanswered.

Finally, after he had written a heartfelt letter recognizing what he had done, his father wrote back, rekindling the relationship.

Michael Perrino said he hopes that lawmakers recognize when a family member goes to prison, they aren't the only person being punished. It's also a punishment for their loved ones and the community they live in, he said.

"Should there be punishment for (crimes)? Absolutely," Michael Perrino said. “What we’re advocating for is fairness, proportionality. We want to effectively reduce recidivism.”

Reach reporter Uriel Garcia at uriel.garcia@azcentral.com. Follow him on Twitter @ujohnnyg.

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