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Entrepreneur Brian Aitken is in Prison and Social Media is Going to Spring Him Out

UPDATE: This, from the FREE Brian Aitken Facebook page: "It's official---Governor Christie has commuted Brian's sentence and he will be home before Christmas!!!!!!!!!!! THANK YOU everybody. If it wasn't for your letters, phone calls and support this never would have happened. What a joyous Christmas this will be. Thank again from the bottom of our hearts. Brian Aitken has been freed!"


Brian_aitken
I never dreamed I would ever be a guy that would do this, but the circumstances behind this are incredible. Like Brian, I'm an upstanding citizen, a dad, an entrepreneur and a gun owner.
Here's the story:

Last week, I received a letter from Brian Aitken, a Rutgers grad and NYU grad student who is also the CEO of Allister & Paine Magazine and Creator of the "Young Entrepreneur of the Year" competition. To my surprise, the letter was stamped and addressed from the Mid-State Correctional Facility in New Jersey. I read through the hand-written letter from Brian and couldn't believe what had happened. In fact, like everyone I tell this story to, I thought, "There must be more to the story." So, I started doing a little research. I read the blog posts, the news articles and listened to radio interviews with Brian's attorney, his father and his mother. My conclusion, this guy got screwed. What's more - he's in prison, away from his infant son and we have to get him out.

Brian_aitken_facebook

Two months ago, Brian was sentenced to 7 years in prison by a judge in New Jersey. Why? Good question. He was arrested for "Unlawful Possession of Firearms" while moving from one residence to another in New Jersey. The two hand guns (which Brian purchased for protection in Colorado when he lived there with his young family) were unloaded and locked in his trunk - just like New Jersey law requires. There were no victims, much less any laws broken. In my opinion, his personality and attempts to fight the false charges before the trial angered the judge - who by the way was removed from the bench from Governor Christie.

Read more on the specifics of the case in this Examiner article: "How can New Jersey imprison a gun owner who broke no laws? You can also visit his blog http://briandaitken.com  (which is being handled by his friends now).

And here is the Summary of Facts prepared by Brian's attorney.

I'm a gun a lawful gun owner who could have easily been in this same predicament. If you think about it, you, or people close to you could have too. I'm ALL for following every letter of the law, but this is unbelievable. Honestly though, it's not the first time I've seen a judge make a bad call either.

If you know Brian, or you feel like your freedom is threatened please help us FREE Brian Aitken.


Why am I doing this? 
I felt truly compeled. I've worked with Brian in the past - even wrote him a letter of recommendation for the NYU Master's program. I think with your help, we can correct this. Share this, tweet this, post this on Facebook. If you can - write to Governor Christie and tell him to commute Brian's sentence.


CALL TO ACTION!

Brian's lawyer is requesting Gov. Christie to commute Brian's sentence. The more letters he gets requesting clemency, the better! Please show your support and ask Gov. Christie to Free Brian Aitken, via e-mail or snail mail:

http://www.state.nj.us/governor/contact/

Office of the Governor
PO Box 001
Trenton, NJ 08625

You can also visit the Free Brian Aitken Facebook Page. If any blogs have the guts to be real journalists - I'm happy to put you in touch with Brian's family, supporters and friends.

Brain's Address:

Brain D. Aitken
737585C / 664864
Mid-State Correctional Facility
PO Box 866
Wrightsown, NJ 08562 

 

 

 

 

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Jason Kintzler

Jason Kintzler

Jason Kintzler is the Founder and CEO of PitchEngine, a social publishing platform used by more than 45,000 businesses worldwide including Fortune 500 companies like Pepsico, H&R Block and Zappos.

A former anchorman turned PR pro, Jason got his start in content creation at a young age - ripping out the pages of his Dr. Suess books and pasting in his own. He was first published nationally in 3rd grade when Wombat Magazine ran a full feature including his story and illustrations. Throughout his career in television and media, Jason met and interviewed many politicians, thought leaders and celebrities who helped shape is approach to business and life.

Jason regularly shares his passion for new media and business by speaking to groups of all sizes at events like SXSW, PRSA and at universities like Stanford, USC and Marquette. He believes that success is directly attributed to an incredible work ethic, passion and creativity and requires jumping fences and challenging status quo at every juncture.

A tribute to social media and a gritty Wyoming independence and work ethic, Jason bootstrapped his startup in 2008, refusing venture capital investment and multimillion-dollar acquisition offers along the way. He believes that through PitchEngine, businesses of all sizes will create better content and tell their own stories in new ways.

Jason has been credited with “heralding in a new era of public relations” by creating “one of the PR industry’s most transformative innovations.” Jason and/or PitchEngine have appeared in several popular books including; Engage, Twitterville, Putting the Public Back in Public Relations, SocialCorp and Social Media Marketing for Dummies.

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