15 to Life
How I Painted My Way to Freedom
Anthony Papa with Jennifer Wynn

15 to Life tells a rare adventure story: how a family man, railroaded by the subterfuge surrounding the War on Drugs, was able to get an early release from prison and become a major activist against draconian drug laws.

Offered a chance to make a quick $500, Anthony Papa agreed to deliver an envelope in a fated police sting operation. His first and only criminal offense cost Papa a 15-year sentence to Sing-Sing, New York State’s maximum-security prison. Suicide was contemplated when Tony Papa realized that the best years of his life would be spent clapped up in a six-foot cell. One day he discovered painting. It gave him hope, and he discovered a talent. When the Whitney Museum chose his painting to exhibit, he suddenly received intense media attention. Governor Pataki got wind of his case, and after 12 hard years of time, Anthony Papa was granted clemency. 15 to Life is more than a dramatic story more than an inside look at the most dangerous prison in America today — it is also an important sociological work and a call for reform of the destructive laws of the War on Drugs.


"Anthony Papa has written a riveting account of how he courageously painted his way to freedom from prison after unnecessarily serving twelve years.  His story puts a human face on the nearly one million nonviolent drug offenders confined in prisons throughout the country."
— Susan Sarandon, Actor/Activist

Read more press clippings.


6 x 9 • 208 pages • color photos and illustrations • hardcover • 1-932595-06-6 • $22.95

Order this book online from Feral House.

Also see Anthony Papa's site, 15yearstolife.com.