By DON FLETCHER
News Staff Writer
Three state inmates who were convicted in Escambia County Circuit Court, including two Atmore men, will each apparently remain in prison for another five years after the Alabama Board of Pardons & Paroles rejected their applications for parole.
Amirr Raheem English, who was convicted of second-degree robbery in 2021, was denied parole during hearings held October 19 by the board. English was also arrested in 2020 for shooting into a crowd at the intersection of Robinson Drive and Maxwell Street in Atmore but apparently was either acquitted or has not come to trial yet on the charges stemming from that incident.
English, who is housed at Easterling Correctional Center, was sentenced to 15 years on the robbery charge. On the date of his hearing, he had served two years and 28 days, but had been given credit for 1,225 net days of “good time.” He will remain in prison until September 5, 2024, if he is not granted a pardon or parole.
A second Atmore resident, Corderela Dirden, was turned down by the parole board during its October 18 deliberations.
Dirden was sentenced earlier this year to 60 months in prison after his conviction for “attempting to commit a controlled substance crime,” a Class B felony. A 237-day stay in the county jail, along with accumulation of 459 days of “good time” have given him credit for already having served a total of a year, two months and 23 days.
The minimum release date — without pardon or parole — for Dirden, who is also housed at Easterling Correctional, is July 8, 2023.
Edward L. Woods, a Brewton man serving 40 years after a 2006 conviction on two counts of second-degree sodomy, will also remain behind state bars after the parole board rejected his bid for early release.
Woods spent 60 days in the county jail before being transferred to the state prison system, and had served a total of 16 years, 1 month and 9 days on the date of his hearing, October 18.
Unless he is granted a pardon or parole, Woods will remain in prison until September 8, 2046. He is currently housed at Bullock Correctional Facility.