ABBEVILLE — A man who spent 20 years in prison is now using his past to reach teenagers in the juvenile justice system.
Nathan Nixon was sentenced to 45 years at Angola in 2002. He was paroled in 2022 after serving 20 years of his sentence.
The prosecutor on Nixon's case was Richard Putnam, who now serves as Abbeville's city court judge.
"When I got to the DA's office, I had a stack of stuff on Nathan Nixon that was very, very high. I had the jail in my office saying, 'you got to get him out of my jail because he's tearing it up,' and so we did," Putnam said. "He took a plea for 45 years and made the absolute most of it."
Nixon now speaks to young people in the juvenile justice system, hoping his story helps them choose a different path.
"Today, God is trying to get y'all to come to y'all's senses because once you become a part of the system, it's real, real hard, and the chances of getting out is real, real slim," Nixon told a group of teenagers on Thursday.
Nixon said faith guided him through his sentence.
"But when I find myself in a cell, in a dark cell all by myself, sweating and it's hot. Nobody to talk to. I pick up my Bible, and I begin to read it," he said.
Nixon said his purpose is to offer young people guidance using his own experience.
"Today after all what I encountered, all what I experienced, you know, to try to not to, try to encourage them and empower them and to give them some guidance and stability to not to duplicate the mistakes that I made," he said.
His message is to take the opportunity in front of them before it is too late.
"This judge is showing y'all some love and y'all some compassion. He trying to give y'all some mercy, some grace that a lot of judges in a lot of situations ain't going to be giving y'all that opportunity," Nixon said.
He said if they take one thing away from his speech, it is to get an education and honor their parents.
