Jerry Dewayne Williams

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Jerry Dewayne Williams is a convicted felon, most famous for initially receiving a 25 years to life prison sentence in March 1995, for the theft of a slice of pepperoni pizza from a group of children, but was released in 1998. Williams was prosecuted under California's three strikes law, mandating lengthy sentences for repeat offenders. His case has often been cited by opponents of the controversial legal measure.

His previous felonies were for robbery, attempted robbery, unauthorized use of a motor vehicle and possession of a controlled substance.[1]

Williams' sentence was later reduced due to a provision which allows courts to bypass mandatory sentencing laws if it promotes the interest of justice. This allows relatively minor third offenses to be treated as second offenses, a means of preventing disproportionately harsh sentencing. Because of the non-violent nature of his criminal history, the sentencing judge agreed to remove a previous offense and reduced his sentence from 25 to six years.