Thanh Tran

Home After 10 Years

Today, Thanh Tran is a devoted father, loving husband, caring brother, documentary filmmaker, and policy expert. He co-founded and co-hosted the podcast Uncuffed, and also co-founded the incarcerated film production team ForwardThis Productions. Today, he is the Director of the documentary Finding Ma and the Policy Associate at the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights, where he provides leadership and works in coalitions for state and local policy campaigns.

As his filmmaking explores, Thanh faced deep-seated traumatic events early on in his childhood, starting when he was placed in foster care at 18 months old. Over the years, Thanh sought mentorship and guidance among his peers, and ended up with the wrong crowd. When he was only 18 years old, Thanh agreed to commit a robbery with two of his friends. His role was to ring the doorbell and ensure no one was home before the robbery. Unbeknownst to him, his co-defendant carried a gun and shot at the victim who was home. Thanh pled nolo contendere to one count of attempted first degree robbery and one count of attempted murder with a gang enhancement. Thereafter, in April 2014, the Santa Clara County Superior Court sentenced Thanh to a total term of 17 years in state prison.

Entering the prison system at only 21, Thanh was determined to make a change. He joined the public speaking group Toastmasters and became their president. After that, he immersed himself in a wide range of programming including trust awareness, restorative justice roundtable, Restoring Our Original True Selves (“R.O.O.T.S.”), alternatives to violence, inner strength course group, child abuse awareness, the trauma recovery program, the 3 Rs program (re-educate, recovery, rehabilitate), nonviolent communication, the youth offender program, among others. This doesn’t even begin to account for all the education, tech literacy, podcasting, and storytelling Thanh did behind bars. On May 4, 2022, at the recommendation of District Attorney Jeff Rosen, Thanh was resentenced to time served. He served 10 years, and had 7 years remaining on his sentence. 

We met Thanh in person for the first time as he crossed the San Quentin Prison gates. This time, instead of walking towards a prison cell, Thanh walked in the opposite direction towards a crowd: his closest friends, colleagues, siblings, wife, and daughter awaited him to celebrate his freedom. Thanh finally returned home thanks to his many supporters, his close friend Isaiah Love, For The People’s Staff Attorney Lizzie Lockwood, and the Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office. 

You can watch a short video on Thanh’s experience returning home here.