Editor's note: These are excerpts from a letter sent to the Rocky Mountain News by inmate George G. Chavez, who is serving life without parole for murder. The information appears in its original form, unedited.

My name is George G. Chavez, I'm twenty six year old, and I've been in prison for going on eleven years.

I can't really remember what my life was like as a child, prison is all I've known for the past ten years.

What I would say to other youngsters about what I'm going though is this: at one point or another everyone has heard the saying, "you don't know what you've lost until it's gone". This is painfully true in my case. The two most important things in life which is family & freedom were taken by a system that claims they act in the best interest of everyone. It doesn't matter if you're 13 years old or 30, if you get put in front a D.A. who has "justice" in mind & your family don't have money, then chances are you'll be tollin' the line soon. According to the State of Colorado I'm a cold blooded killer (at age 15) and as a so called cold blooded killer I'll say this; I wouldn't wish this punishment on anyone!

I do have hope that my sentence will be overturned. Show me a man with no hope and I'll show you a deadman.

I can't speak for the rest of the youngsters doing time in these joints, only for myself. And with that being said I want to say this: It didn't take 20, 30, or 40 years for me to realize the crimes I'm accused of are wrong. It didn't take forever for me to realize how the victims had & have to deal with the pain of crime everyday. In short, I'm not claiming to be some angle, but by no means am I the cold blooded killer I'm accused of being.

To keep a particular position people will talk all day about "get-tough" laws for youngsters. Why doesn't anyone focus on the point befor the crime?