From prison to prosecutor: Metro man gets second chance to help others turn their lives around

FULTON COUNTY, Ga. — He went from prison to being sworn in as a prosecutor.

Channel 2 Action News was there when James White III took the oath of office to become an Assistant Solicitor General. White says he got a second chance. Now he’s working to do the same for others.

Channel 2′s Tom Jones was in Courtroom 9-G as White was back in court again, except this time he wasn’t there to take a plea.

He was there for a more important reason.

“Please say I do, Chief Probate Judge Kenya Johnson said. “I do,” White responded.

White took the oath of office to be a prosecutor in the Fulton County Solicitor General’s Office.

“It’s official,” Johnson said, as the packed courtroom applauded.

White was a different person back in early 2000.

“Selling drugs. Robbing people,” he said.

He was arrested for armed robbery when he broke into Kenneth Campbell’s home. White served three years in prison.

He decided to use his time away wisely.

“I started to educate myself when I was in prison, he said.

White got out of prison and went to college, then to law school. White then got his law degree.

Jones asked him what helped him get his life back on track. White, who was once homeless, says he learned he didn’t have to commit crimes because things weren’t going his way.

“Circumstances aren’t excuses. I had to learn that the hard way,” he said.

Then Fulton County Solicitor General Keith Gammage decided to hire White to work in his Pretrial Diversion program, despite his criminal history.

“And who better than someone that’s been through this experience,” Gammage explained.

Campbell, the victim, said this is where White needs to be.

“I’m just happy to see him here in this seat. This is what he belongs to do,” he said.

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White says he will keep telling his story to let other young men who look like him know they can change too. He says instead of changing it would be better if they learned from his story… and not commit crimes in the first place.

He says he wants to help give others a second chance just like the one he got.