DENVER, Aug. 26, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The five technology entrepreneurs known as the IRP5 today issued a scathing statement condemning what they describe as a years-long failure by federal officials to remedy obvious constitutional violations in their case—despite repeated outreach from a retired federal appellate judge, extensive congressional advocacy, and national media attention.

With help from Rochelle “Silk” Richardson of the Diamond and Silk duo, the men are seeking presidential clemency from Donald J. Trump, arguing this is a case of actual innocence, not post-hoc remorse. They contend the prosecution criminalized unpaid corporate debt and that trial errors—including Fifth and Sixth Amendment violations—were compounded by a judiciary that looked away while critical parts of the record went missing.

“We brought receipts—transcripts, letters, and filings—showing coercion at a sidebar, missing words of coercion by Judge Arguello from the recorded sidebar, and the unlawful gagging of our two independent industry experts,” the IRP5 said. “For years, officials were notified and did nothing. We are asking President Trump to act where the Obama administration refused.”

Years of warnings went unheeded

• 70+ trips to Capitol Hill. Advocacy group A Just Cause reports more than seventy visits to lawmakers, hand-delivering materials about the case.
• Judge H. Lee Sarokin sounded the alarm. The retired Third Circuit judge wrote President Obama seeking clemency and explaining why the government’s theory was flawed and impossible. He also contacted Attorney General Loretta Lynch and Senator Cory Booker urging action.
• Packet to Attorney General Holder. A Just Cause sent a packet asserting the IRP5’s innocence to Eric Holder’s home; the packet later surfaced in discovery.
• National press attention. In 2016, the Washington Post profiled Judge Sarokin’s efforts in “Judge who freed ‘Hurricane Carter’ now helping six men — but only Obama can save them,” where he stated the men were indicted, prosecuted, and imprisoned for failing to pay corporate debts (https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/true-crime/wp/2016/07/05/judge-who-freed-hurricane-carter-now-helping-six-imprisoned-men-but-only-obama-can-save-them/).
• Judicial misconduct complaints dismissed. Complaints were filed and then dismissed by the same Tenth Circuit that affirmed the dubious convictions.
  

What the record shows

• Fifth Amendment violation: At a defense-case sidebar, the trial judge Christine Arguello allegedly said in substance: “put a witness on or a defendant will have to testify or I will rest your case." Immediately afterward, a defendant took the stand—without a voluntary-waiver colloquy—and later invoked the Fifth in front of the jury.
• Missing transcript language: Though the sidebar was recorded, key words are absent from the transcript—the very words the coercion claim turns on. In a lawsuit against the court reporter, federal Judge R. Brooke Jackson noted it was undisputed that Judge Arguello said something at the sidebar that does not appear in the transcript. Judge Sarokin publicly flagged the anomaly and criticized the appellate disposition that followed.
• Sixth Amendment violation: Court records show Judge Arguello sanctioned the defense by excluding two critical independent staffing-industry experts—central to explaining ordinary business practices and why non-payment does not equal fraud—by insisting the defense first give the government details of expected testimony, even though the law explicitly states the defense had no duty to do so. The exclusion deprived the jury of hearing material, favorable testimony central to the IRP5’s innocence.
• Pattern of overreach: The IRP5 allege the government used the first grand jury to pull their church into the narrative and later imprisoned a family member for alleged false statements despite evidence the statements were true.

“When truth is technical, silencing the technicians is silencing the truth,” the IRP5 said. “Our staffing-industry experts were the witnesses jurors needed most—and the court kept them out.”

A minority-owned tech company says it was targeted

Four of the five men are African-American; two are military veterans. They built public-safety software they believed could transform law-enforcement operations. The IRP5 say their minority-owned company became a “political casualty” because its revolutionary technology competed with entrenched federal contractors.

“This was a blatant, overt abuse of government power to take down a minority business that threatened big, connected vendors,” the statement reads. “We never pled guilty because we did not commit a crime.”

Turning to President Trump

The men say they now seek mercy—and justice—from President Trump, who they contend “has seen firsthand how the federal justice system can be weaponized.” One member of the IRP5 won release under Trump’s First Step Act, and video from that homecoming shows crowds chanting “Trump! Trump! Trump!”

“This is not a plea for leniency; it is a petition grounded in actual innocence,” the IRP5 said. “We ask President Trump to correct what others ignored and restore our names.”

What accountability looks like

1. Grant clemency (full pardon or equivalent relief) recognizing the unresolved constitutional defects and actual innocence claims.
2. Policy fixes: mandatory redundant recording for sidebars; brief, on-the-record voluntariness colloquies before any pro se defendant testifies; firm protections against one-sided disclosures of defense strategy.
3. Congressional oversight into practices that enable record gaps, tactical exposure of defense strategy, and the criminalization of business debt.
   

About the IRP5
The IRP5 are five Colorado Springs entrepreneurs who built enterprise software for public safety. They have maintained their innocence from day one and served between 7 and 11 years in federal prison. They continue to seek exoneration and systemic reform.

About A Just Cause
A Just Cause is an advocacy organization that has championed the IRP5’s cause for over a decade, including organizing 70+ congressional visits and extensive public-education efforts.

About Judge Sarokin

The IRP5 mourn the passing of Judge H. Lee Sarokin and honor his unwavering courage in standing up for them. A former federal appellate judge who closely examined their case, he spoke out when few would—writing to the President Obama and DOJ, engaging the press, and calling out a flawed prosecution theory that criminalized debt. After their release, he sent a personal message urging them to hold their heads high. The IRP5 are profoundly grateful for his integrity, independence, and compassion, and they carry his legacy forward in their continued fight for justice and reform.

Note: Allegations referenced herein are supported by court filings, transcripts, and public commentary by Judge H. Lee Sarokin; materials available upon request.

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at

https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/62b539c3-4cc1-4929-9f25-60f983c510d6

Videos accompanying this announcement are available at

https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/3be4e31b-15d3-4d1b-84fc-37a4a1548048

https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/4d8b4a05-5585-4133-a9bf-1e3074c2bd2b

Media Contact
IRP5 Defense Support Committee
press@IRP5defense.org