Tommy Trantino was born on the Lower East Side, NY, in 1938. At fourteen, he became addicted to heroin and three years later he was jailed in Comstock for five and a half years for committing a robbery. In 1964, Trantino was tried and convicted of the murder of two New Jersey policemen and sentenced to death.

Following 8 years in solitary confinement on Death Row, Trantino’s death sentence was commuted to life imprisonment. In 1973, a book of his poems, art and short stories - entitled Lock The Lock - was released.

After 37 years imprisonment and 12 hearings, Trantino was transferred to a halfway house by order of the Supreme Court. It was deemed he had been held illegally by the State for 21 years.

After a 12-month stay in the halfway house - an account of which can be found in “Perseverance” - he was paroled in 2002. Trantino is now an artist in New Jersey, and makes public appearances that encourage young people to avoid a life in crime.