John C. Buckely IV is a decorated U.S. Army veteran. Among other awards, Buckley has been granted the Purple Heart for being wounded in combat. He has also been incarcerated for the past 15 years. Of that time, he has spent at least seven years in solitary confinement. His most recent stint in the hole lasted three years.
Up until August 2025, Buckley had spent the majority of his prison sentence in Kentucky. Now, he resides in an Arizona correctional facility. Despite the inhumane living conditions Buckley has endured, he wants readers to know that he still holds many hopes for the future. As he continues efforts to overturn his conviction for a crime he maintains he did not commit, Buckley says he has been using the education and rehabilitation opportunities in Arizona to become a better writer and musician and work towards his master’s degree. Buckley says his biggest dream is that “my children will forgive me for standing my ground against an unbeatable foe (the government) and spending their childhoods in prison as retaliation for not plea bargaining the case out.”
Buckley can be contacted by writing to him at: John Buckley IV #377381, ASPC Eyman/Cook, 801 E. Jefferson St., Phoenix, AZ 85034. —Kilhah St. Fort…