The guards rotate every eight hours. Their job, day and night, is to keep watch over a small room in a hospital in Indonesia. It contains a couch, a TV, and a bed where – since July – Jarred Shaw has been drifting in and out of sleep, wondering when he will be discharged from purgatory.
Nearly a year has passed since the former college basketball star was sentenced to 26 months in prison after being caught with 132 cannabis gummies.
At the time of his arrest, the 36-year-old was playing for Tangerang Hawks of the Indonesian Basketball League. He argued the edibles, which had a street value of $400, were bought to treat his Crohn’s, a bowel disease that causes chronic inflammation of the digestive system and is believed to affect up to one million Americans.
But few countries have stricter drug laws than Indonesia and so, before long, he was staring at a possible death sentence, sleeping on a mat in a 10-man cell surrounded by bugs, cats and rats the size of a possum. He shed more than 40lbs and battled diarrhea, E.coli and vomiting. At one point, he told the Daily Mail, he ‘didn’t care to wake up.’
These days, the picture appears rather less bleak. Shaw’s legal team successfully argued he should be moved to a facility where he could receive proper treatment for Crohn’s. So the Dallas native is speaking to the Daily Mail from his hospital bed.
He is out of prison and he is taking medicine. But, according to the ex-Oklahoma State and Utah State player, his case is now at an impasse. Shaw claims he was told that the president of Indonesia has signed an amnesty for his release but that the government in Jakarta is waiting on a letter of repatriation from the US State Department. The State Department, his legal team say, claim their hands are tied until they receive confirmation of the amnesty. Deadlock. So what is his message to the Trump administration?
Ex-college basketball star Jarred Shaw was sentenced to 26 months in an Indonesian prison
The 36-year-old Dallas native was paraded in front of the media after being arrested last May
Shaw played for Oklahoma State and Utah State before continuing his career overseas
‘I need help,’ Shaw says. ‘I’m here, I’m alone, I’m scared. I don’t know what’s happening… nobody here speaks English. I don’t know what the medicine is that they’re giving me.’
Shaw claims he has been at the hospital for 90 days. Some are harder than others on his mental health; nothing is more punishing than the ‘unknown.’
‘I can’t walk outside this door, bro… it’s tough,’ he says. ‘I am very grateful that they brought me here… [but] if I was granted amnesty from the government here, I don’t understand why my government haven’t stepped in and brought me back home to my family.’
Around nine months remain on Shaw’s original sentence but the amnesty would allow him early release. Every day is precious for the 36-year-old’s mother, Johnetta Perry, who battles chronic health issues of her own and prays ‘to see and touch my son before I leave this world.’
‘She survived breast cancer and I don’t want to be negative or anything but I know her clock is ticking. Tomorrow’s not promised,’ he says.
‘She’s asking me for an update, and I can’t give her one… some days she’s like: “Okay, we’ll get through this.” And then some days, it’s hard on her. She’s 70 years old. She’s just waiting for her child to get back home.’
Shaw claims he was told, through an intermediary, that amnesty had been granted in early August. ‘[That] was the last time I got an update from anybody,’ he says.
Donte West, an international criminal justice advocate and negotiator who is fighting alongside Shaw’s legal team, says he is in contact with both the State Department and the US Embassy in Indonesia.
According to correspondence, seen by the Daily Mail, the embassy wrote to the Indonesian government in mid-August to confirm they are ready to help with repatriation. But still Shaw waits for news.
Shaw was detained over a package that contained 132 cannabis gummies with a value of $400
Undercover police officers ambushed Shaw after he picked up the package of gummies
The basketball star is pictured with Donte West, who is fighting alongside his legal team
The Daily Mail reached out to both the US and Indonesian authorities, seeking clarification on Shaw’s case. At the time of writing, neither has responded.
In the meantime, Shaw is finding ways to pass the time. ‘I’m in and out of sleep mainly,’ he says. ‘I try to talk to my family as much as I can. I don’t really do too much outside of that.’
He has, though, begun to make plans for what comes next. When the 36-year-old does touch down back home, his first visit will be to his mom. Then he will see his doctor. Then he wants to publish the book he penned behind bars.
‘I finished up the last few chapters while I was here in the hospital,’ he explains. ‘I found it therapeutic, just to jot my thoughts down, give my mind a challenge… I had nothing but time sitting inside the prison.’
Eventually, he wants to move into advocacy with West. ‘Because this is tough being locked up abroad,’ he says. ‘If I can help somebody else get out of their situation and get back home to their families, that’s what I want to do.’
