Stewart Parks, a local entrepreneur and former candidate to represent Tennessee’s 5th Congressional District, joined the newsmaker line on Tuesday’s edition of The Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy one hour before reporting to the Federal Correctional Institution in Memphis to serve an eight-month sentence for being present at the U.S. Capitol on January 6.
Parks was sentenced in November 2023 to three years imprisonment on misdemeanor trespassing, disorderly conduct, and theft charges by D.C. Circuit Court Judge Amit P. Mehta, who has presided over several trials related to the January 6 Capitol riots. Parks, however, will serve his sentence concurrently beginning on Tuesday, reducing his term to eight months behind bars.
On Tuesday, Parks joined the newsmaker line as he was about to sit down for his last meal at Gus’s Fried Chicken with his parents before driving and reporting to the Federal Correctional Institution 12 minutes away.
When asked by Leahy if there was a last-minute ruling that would stay his time in prison pending an appeal, Parks said he checked in with the probation office Tuesday morning to see if his self-surrender date was still on schedule, which it was.
“The probation office did confirm that I would have to, as of a few hours ago, self surrender as required. I will be making contact with my attorney just letting her know that I complied and I plan to call her ASAP once I get inside to overturn this horrible scenario,” Parks said.
With just an hour to go before the start of his eight-month prison sentence, Parks said he was enjoying the last minutes of freedom and thinking about the outpouring of support he’s received from community members.
“It’s pretty wild. I’ve had a lot of wonderful phone calls and people reaching out to me. It’s pretty shocking, people that I have only met one time have reached out to me. They’ve seen your amazing interviews and story and they reached out to me and offered their support and everything. So, I mean, it’s pretty eye opening how many people have been paying attention,” Parks said.
Leahy concluded the interview by offering thoughts and prayers for Parks.
“Our listeners are praying for you, and we have you in our thoughts, and we know you have been unjustly convicted in an unfair trial. We’re with you, and we’ll be with you during your time in prison, and we’ll be with you when you get out, so we wish you Godspeed,” Leahy said.
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Kaitlin Housler is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network. Follow Kaitlin on X / Twitter.
