SUFFOLK, Va. (WAVY) — July 1 was Independence Day for 54-year-old Samuel Harris. He savored freedom and his first home-cooked meal in more than two decades — a spread of Southern favorites that brought back memories of Sunday dinners for the entire family.

“And boy, what I walked into, but I had my eyes on one thing the whole time because nobody makes fried chicken like my mom,” Harris said two weeks after his release from prison. “So I sat right there at that table and I got to say, Look this give me some space. I need some fried chicken and some hot sauce.”

Harris’ downward spiral started when he, as a young soldier nearly drowned while in training. The PTSD that followed fueled a life of drugs and crime.

10 On Your Side was at the scene on November of 1999, when Harris broke into a Suffolk home and stole a family’s car at gunpoint. He then led police on a chase that ended in Norfolk.

With 60 years to serve, Harris was hopeful for an early release. It was granted after the Youngkin administration’s efforts to delay the earned sentence credit program expired.

“Again, thank you to Governor Youngkin and his administration, because I had a pardon that was submitted in 2018 that he finally granted in September of ’23,” Harris said.

His, cousin, Ann Davis, then set out on a mission to find Youngkin.

“I learned that [Youngkin] was over in Harborview, so I was actually sick, but I was determined because I wanted to shake the hand of the man who changed my cousin’s life,” Davis said.

Davis then thanked the governor for signing the pardon, where he then handed her a small thin box.

“The ink pen is the governor’s; it has his signature on it,” Davis said. “I gave it to my cousin and symbolically, this is the pen that is signed, you know, gave him a new start in life.”

Harris plans to open a non-profit organization to help veterans in the community and veterans behind bars, to get the benefits they’ve earned and deserve. He is also holding a back-to-school supplies drive for children in Suffolk.

For more information on his efforts, contact Harris via email: mrsamharris69@gmail.com.