In Chains, Imprisoned And Robbed Of Having Children
How Can This Be Justice?

Grazia Magazine
March 13, 2006

British born Chantal McCorkle, 37, was jailed on the US after committing a crime for which she probably would only have been fined in the UK. Following the failure of her latest appeal for release, her sister Joanne Watts, a 33 year old sales manager from Berkshire, tells Grazia her harrowing story.

'Just five weeks ago, I was standing by my phone with butterflies in my stomach. I was waiting for mum to call me with the  news that my sister Chantal had been released from jail. I'd been planning a huge celebration and imagined her walking through the door after seven years away. Instead, in a broken voice, my mum explained that Chantal wasn't coming home. Her 24 year sentence had been cut by just four years.She would remain in jail almost two decades. My legs buckled beneath me.

'My sister will be in her 50's by the time she is released - too old to enjoy a long and happy life with a man, too old for a career. But it's being robbed of children that really gets to Chantal.

'The other day, in her weekly phone call, Chantal told me that you only get one chance at life and she has messed hers up.

'Life wasn't meant to be like this. When we were kids, Chantal was the one who was going to do well. She absolutely adored children and when she landed a job in Florida as an au pair at 19 it was a dream come true. I remember going to the airport to wave her off. As she disappeared, blowing a kiss, mum held my hand tightly and began to cry, saying, 'she's not coming back. She'll meet someone and stay there.'

'Sadly, she was right. Within two years she'd met William McCorkle, a handsome businessman, and fallen head over heals. She used to send me pictures of them together and phone telling me how much she loved him. Then one day, after they'd been together for a year, she announced they were getting married in two days. It was all very sudden but Chantal was like that - impulsive and romantic.

'When I flew out to Florida with my parents shortly afterwards, it was clear they were living the American dream. I couldn't believe the glamourous blonde in the gold Lexus sports car was my sister. They lived in a six bedroom villa in a gated development with a double garage and a swimming pool.

Chantal's life was amazing, but she was still the same fun loving girl she'd always been. We gossiped and she rolled around on the carpet playing with my little boy, Jonathan, who was eight at the time. She was thinking about children, but was concentrating on working for her husband's business making video 'info-mercials', advising people how to make money out of property.

'I admit I felt jealous of their lifestyle. There she was living with all this money in eternal sunshine with stylish friends, while I was a single mother struggling to raise my son in a pokey two room flat in Windsor.

'Ten months later, Chantal called in tears to say she and William had been arrested on fraud charges. In their info-mercials they had both been filmed posing outside glamorous houses with fleets of cars and yachts in the background which, along with actors, were all hired for filming. Although my sister didn't know it, the fact that these actors were hired and not genuine customers constituted large-scale fraud under American law, and any profits they made constituted money laundering.

'My sister has always been very naive. She sees the good in everyone and she paid the price. William was familiar with business law; she was not. The trial lasted three weeks, and she hired a great team of lawyers. Although she was warned that 24 years was the maximum sentence, ever the optimist, she believed she would be out and home in a few weeks.

'But the worse case scenario happened. According to the prosecutors, each time their funds were moved between bank accounts, no matter how innocently, it counted as a separate money-laundering offence. They were found guilty on every count and sentenced to a staggering 24 years. When the Judge read out the verdict, William collapsed and Chantal burst into tears. Lawyers have confirmed that in the UK she'd probably have got off with a five-figure fine. My mother, who had flown out to be with her, said the colour drained from Chantal's face and she mouthed 'Love you' as they were lead away.

'That was seven years ago and every day I think about her spending her days in a 8ft by 10ft cell. The first time Chantal called me she was terrified because she was sharing a cell with a woman who had decapitated both of her parents - they were serving the same sentences.

'Over the years Chantal has missed out on so many things and I feel like I've been robbed of the person I was closest to in the world. She's allowed one weekly phone call and we share family events with her like she a distant stranger. Chantal has never even met her niece, my daughter Demi, now nine, because I know it would upset them both too much to take her into prison for a visit. Every landmark is a struggle. Chantal missed our half-sister Kerry's wedding three years ago. When our auntie Ann died of breast cancer in her forties, at the end of last year, Chantal couldn't come to the funeral. It has all taken its toll on our mum too. She suffers from terrible depression, and campaigning for Chantal's release is taking every penny of her retirement savings.

'Chantal recently called during my son Michael's 18th birthday. we passed the phone around the table and all she wanted to know was what we were eating and drinking. In prison, every meal is potatoes or bread and low quality mince or sausages. Before, she was a strict vegetarian who prided herself on healthy eating, but she's had to adjust.

'Every day for Chantal is the same routine. She gets up at 6am. Breakfast is at 8am, then her lunch is at midday and dinner at 7pm. Her day is spent doing cleaning or catering chores for 20p an hour, which she saves up for phone calls home. She has an hour off to exercise i the gym and an hour outside in the yard. Then it's 'lights out' at 10pm. The next day it all starts again. It's the things we take for granted that really get to her. She asked me the other day if I liked the James Blunt song Beautiful. She heard it once, but has no idea what other music is in the charts or what's on TV.

'I first visited Chantal in prison in Florida three years ago. The experience was horrendous. She was dressed in an oversized orange boiler suit with her blonde hair looking dark and dull. My four hour time slot with her passed like 15 minutes.

'Chantal split up from William after the trial. At last month's appeal, he finally admitted to the judge that Chantal had no idea she was breaking the law, and he took full responsibility. But no mercy was shown towards her despite this. We still plan to appeal further. We recently collected 127 MPs' signatures, all of them agreeing that the sentence was too harsh.

'We are now appealing for Chantal to be transferred to the UK to serve the rest of her sentence, so that at least we can see her more often. I will never give up hope until she is released. Hopefully that will come in time for her to fulfil her dream of being a mother, but I fear that it may be too late.'