In 1993, Gary Settle was sentenced to 177 years in prison. Twenty-six years into his sentence, he started helping other inmates get out of prison through something called compassionate release - a policy that allows people in prison to petition to be let out for “extraordinary and compelling” reasons. You can learn more about Gary Settle in Anna Altman’s piece, " The Quality of Mercy ," in The Atavist Magazine . Say hello on Twitter , Facebook , Instagram and TikTok . Sign up for our occasional newsletter, The Accomplice . Follow the show and review us on Apple Podcasts . Sign up for Criminal Plus to get behind-the-scenes bonus episodes of Criminal , ad-free listening of all of our shows, special merch deals, and more. We also make This is Love and Phoebe Reads a Mystery . Artwork by Julienne Alexander . Check out our online shop . Episode transcripts are posted on our website . Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices