I MARRIED A PRISONER FOR MONEY WHILE HE WAS SERVING A TWELVE-YEAR SENTENCE — BUT AFTER HIS CONVICTION WAS OVERTURNED, HE CAME TO MY APARTMENT WITH A BLACK BOX AND SAID, “NOW IT’S MY TURN TO BE HONEST.”
When I agreed to marry Jonah, I didn’t care whether he was innocent. He had been convicted of stealing from his family’s charity.
I was twenty-seven, drowning in rent notices and raising my brother. So when Jonah’s mother offered me $2,000 a month to become his wife on paper, I said yes before shame could stop me.
