The Girlfriends S3/E8: No Regrets

Summary

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The Girlfriends: Jailhouse Lawyer

Season 3, Episode 8: "No Regrets"

Release: September 1, 2025, iHeartPodcasts and Novel
Host: Anna Sinfield

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Episode Overview

This emotionally charged season finale concludes the story of Kelly Harnett, a survivor of domestic abuse who was imprisoned for over a decade for a murder she claims her abusive boyfriend committed. The episode explores the blurred lines between victimhood and villainy, the high personal cost of freedom, and Kelly's ongoing quest for meaning and redemption beyond the prison walls. Anna Sinfield, the host, weaves together Kelly’s legal battles for herself and others, her painful homecoming, and the continued obstacles she faces after her release.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Day of Freedom: Resentencing and Release

• Anxiety Before Court
  • Kelly describes her fear and confusion during the prison van ride to court, convinced something was wrong.

    "I am not kidding. I thought I was getting kidnapped on the way to court." (03:59, Kelly Harnett)

• Judge DiBiase's Empathy and Unusual Perspective
  • Judge Bruna DiBiase, coping with family addiction and incarceration, recognizes Kelly’s suffering and resilience.

    “I do make a conscious effort to interact with the individuals in my court… I often think when they come in and see me and probably think, what does she understand about my pain? But I do.” (06:20, Judge DiBiase)

  • Judge DiBiase acknowledges reading every page of Kelly’s legal motions and calls her “a true survivor.”

    “What she said to me next was as close to vindication as I’ll ever get… You stand here before me today as a true survivor.” (08:02, Kelly Harnett)

• "Time Served": The Moment of Release
  • Kelly is resentenced to time served and receives a “second chance at life.”

    "Your Honor is giving me my second chance at life." (09:00, Kelly Harnett)

2. Coming Home: Joy and Loss Intertwined

• Transition Back to the Outside
  • Kelly works through her last night in prison, tying up legal cases for other inmates. She finds leaving her clients and friends behind “so, so hard.” (11:18, Kelly Harnett)
• Bittersweet Homecoming
  • Released from prison, Kelly feels isolated, with no family waiting at the gates while others embrace their loved ones.

    "I just wanted to be with my mother." (12:13, Kelly Harnett)

  • Rushes to see her ailing mother, Kathleen, at the hospital for their first reunion in 13 years; they share a fragile, tearful embrace.

    "That's my mother. I couldn't believe what I was seeing… She was like, 'You look so beautiful. I can't believe that you're out.'" (14:04, Kelly Harnett)

3. Immediate Grief: Loss of Her Mother

• Frenzied First Weeks & Tragedy
  • Kelly races to secure paperwork, housing, and her mother’s health.
  • Her mother deteriorates and dies shortly after Kelly’s release, leading to intense guilt over her strict curfew preventing her from being at her mother's side.

    “I have so much guilt for not just breaking curfew that once… He needed me, Ronnie needed me, and so did my mother." (17:58, Kelly Harnett)

• Reflections on Family and Time Lost
  • Kelly laments missing 13 years with her mother due to incarceration, and speaks to the broader impact on her family.

    "When they put me in prison, they put everybody in prison." (19:05, Kelly Harnett)

4. Final Goodbyes: The East River Farewell

• Scattering Her Parents’ Ashes
  • Kelly and her brother Ronnie, with the help of a GoFundMe and community, cremate their mother and father and scatter their ashes in the East River.

    "I felt that it was his [her father's] energy, and I felt that he was happy to be free." (25:15, Kelly Harnett)

  • Offers gratitude to her parents and symbolically takes on responsibility for her own future.

    "That we got it from here." (26:51, Kelly Harnett)

5. The Price of Freedom: Plea Deals and Ongoing Punishment

• Taking a Guilty Plea
  • Though resentenced, Kelly must plead guilty to manslaughter—even after insisting on her innocence for years.

    "If you're entering a plea of guilty, you're saying you did it. But... I had to get home to my mother. You have to do what you have to do sometimes." (28:56 & 29:01, Kelly Harnett)

  • The conviction remains as a permanent barricade to jobs and full reintegration.

    “The only jobs I’ve gotten have been from people who actually know me personally and they know what I am capable of…” (29:35, Kelly Harnett)

6. Barriers to Work: Stigma and Hope

• Work Rejection and Ongoing Struggle
  • Kelly is repeatedly rejected due to her record, even after earning a paralegal certificate from Columbia.

    “If I could just get a chance to be the Kelly that I was when I was in there, I think I’ll be fine. But that’s what kept me going: my work. When you take my work from me now, I don’t have anything.” (32:00–33:11, Kelly Harnett)

7. Parole Crisis and Fresh Uncertainty

• Parole Complications
  • Despite exemplary behavior, Kelly’s release from supervision is threatened by missing paperwork pertaining to her mandatory programs; she faces the possibility of extended parole.

    "Being on parole is not actually free." (39:36 & 40:16, Kelly Harnett)

  • Emotional breakdown ensues; her “freedom” is once again at risk due to system failures.

8. Final Breakthrough and New Hopes

• Resolves Parole Crisis
  • Kelly gathers documentation and finally secures her final freedom as parole ends.

    “Now I speak to you today as a free woman.” (43:35, Kelly Harnett)

• Looking Forward
  • Kelly details her ambitions to be a paralegal, climb within a law firm, and—ideally—give back by enabling incarcerated women to access the law library and legal resources.

    "I think I have a mission from God. I think I was put here to save souls by getting people out of prison. That sounds like an insane statement, but that is my belief at this point." (45:01, Kelly Harnett)

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Notable Quotes & Moments

• On Being Seen By the System:

  “She said, Ms. Harnett, I just want to let you know that I have read every single page of every motion that you have ever written… you stand here before me today as a true survivor.” (08:02, Kelly Harnett recalling Judge DiBiase’s words)

• On the Ongoing Consequences of Incarceration:

  “When they put me in prison, they put everybody in prison.” (19:05, Kelly Harnett)

• On Finding a Mission:

  “I think I have a mission from God. I think I was put here to save souls by getting people out of prison…” (45:01, Kelly Harnett)

• On Identity and Faith:

  “You know, I’m not going to apologize for what perceives to be miraculous stories. What I will tell you, if you fail to understand them or even believe them, then unfortunately you’re the one missing out…” (46:21, Kelly Harnett)

• Prayer for the Deceased and Her Own Peace:

  “St Therese… please send a shower of roses from the heavenly gardens as a message of love for the loss of Angel Reuben Vargas. And I’d like to pray for his entire family and their souls as well… So please also hold that with me, for it is too hard and too heavy for me to carry alone and ask God to hold it for me.” (51:03–51:59, Kelly Harnett at Immaculate Conception Church)
  “Thank you for allowing me to save a few souls… I have no regrets.” (52:03, Kelly Harnett)

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Timestamps for Key Moments

• 03:59 — Kelly’s anxiety in the van en route to court
• 05:20 — Kelly prepares herself for Queen's Court and release
• 06:20–08:43 — Judge DiBiase’s empathetic approach & Kelly’s vindication
• 11:18–12:29 — Kelly’s bittersweet release and lack of family at the gates
• 13:00–14:04 — Hospital reunion with her mother, Kathleen
• 17:58–18:52 — Guilt and grief over her mother’s death
• 25:15–27:11 — Scattering parents’ ashes in the East River
• 28:56–29:27 — The implications of her guilty plea for freedom
• 32:00–33:11 — Barriers to employment and work as self-worth
• 37:12–40:23 — Parole officer crisis and the threat of additional supervision
• 43:35 — Kelly’s confirmation that her parole has ended
• 44:01–45:24 — Kelly’s hopes for her future, focus on paralegal work and helping others
• 50:01–51:59 — Prayer at Immaculate Conception Church for Angel Vargas and herself

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Closing Reflections

Anna Sinfield emphasizes the impossibility of reducing Kelly to simple labels—victim or villain—highlighting instead the complexity, contradictions, and courage in her journey. The episode’s conclusion is one of ambiguity, resilience, and unresolved longing for justice.

“I can’t sum Kelly up in a sentence or even in a whole fricking podcast. But maybe that’s the lesson I need to take from this, that my job is just to tell people stories, not to neatly package them into categories, into victims or villains or anything else.” (49:45, Anna Sinfield)

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Tone & Language

The episode is intimate, raw, and direct—often moving between dark humor, sorrow, righteous anger, and fierce hope. Kelly’s voice is authentic, sometimes brash and unapologetic, always honest and reflective.

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For listeners affected by issues discussed, visit NO MORE for resources on domestic violence.

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Transcript

[Kelly Harnett]

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[Kelly Harnett]

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[Anna Sinfield]

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[Kelly Harnett]

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[Anna Sinfield]

Learn [e-mail] hey, it's Anna here to give you a heads up on what to expect in this final episode. There's going to be mentions of murder, domestic abuse and addiction. Plus there'll be some distressing scenes. Oh, and you guessed it, some bad language. But you'll also get to see what the future might hold for Kelly and how she's rebuilding her life beyond prison. If you're affected by any of the themes around domestic and gendered violence in this show, reach out to our charity Partner no More. They're a domestic violence charity with a lot of great resources to help you or your loved ones. You can search nomore.org and we've also put a link to their website in the Episode description It's 27th April 2022. Kelly Harnett is in a familiar place, a prison transfer van. She's on her way to court. Over the past decade and some change as her case slowly moved through the justice system, Kelly has made a lot of similar journeys. But this time something is different.

[Kelly Harnett]

I am not kidding. I thought I was getting kidnapped on the way to court.

[Anna Sinfield]

She's been traveling for two hours. She's alone in the van. Say, for the prison guards up front.

[Kelly Harnett]

It was the most surreal feeling in the world. I'm in the van with no windows. I'm screaming at them, why is it taking so long to get there? And they're not answering me at all.

[Anna Sinfield]

In the silence, Kelly's mind kicks into overdrive, imagining 100 different, equally distressing scenarios. Kelly's particularly anxious right now because today isn't just any other day in court. If all goes well, it will be her last, because she's finally getting resentenced. Kelly squints, blinking as the sunlight pours into the prison van, her heart beating as she wonders where the hell she is.

[Kelly Harnett]

Oh, this is Queen's Court.

[Anna Sinfield]

Safely unkidnapped and dropped off at her destination, Kelly steadies herself. Then she starts walking towards her freedom.

[Kelly Harnett]

This was so cinematic. It was like the most beautiful court date you could ever imagine. I had on a white collared shirt, the tan pants that they make you wear. I wore my hair down. I made sure I did my makeup really nice, and I was ready to go home.

[Anna Sinfield]

Kelly strides into Queen's Court flanked by two prison guards. They get into the lift and make her face the wall. Then she's called into the courtroom, where she'll be standing in front of Judge Bruna DiBiase.

[Kelly Harnett]

As soon as I walked out, she said, Good morning, Ms. Harnett, with this bright smile. No judge ever looked at her or smiled at her. One smile made such an impression on her.

[Anna Sinfield]

You've probably already guessed, but this is Judge DiBiase.

[Kelly Harnett]

I do make a conscious effort to interact with the individuals in my court. Many of the litigants, I often think that when they come in and they see me and probably think, what does she understand about my pain? But I do.

[Anna Sinfield]

Judge DiBiase's son Eric died of a drug overdose about 13 years ago. Then in 2019, her daughter Lisa, who also struggled with addiction, hit a cyclist named John James Ousma Quintero with her car. She was drunk and high at the time. John died, and Lisa went to prison after pleading guilty to multiple charges. By the time Kelly walks into Judge DiBiase's courtroom in 2022, Lisa is behind bars.

[Kelly Harnett]

Having had an incarcerated daughter has informed my decisions now about the length of a sentence individuals should receive. I was so not versed in all of that at the time of my.

[Anna Sinfield]

Son'S addiction that causes me pain.

[Kelly Harnett]

But, you know, there's only so much you can dwell in the past. And so what I've decided to do is to take the knowledge that I have now and to move forward and to help other people with it.

[Anna Sinfield]

Kelly has stood in front of more than a few judges in her time. It's normally been a fight, one that Kelly is prepared to have again if needed. Luckily, it isn't.

[Kelly Harnett]

What she said to me next was as close to vindication as I'll ever get. She said to me, Ms. Harnett, I just want to let you know that I have read every single page of every motion that you have ever written. She's talking about the things I was starting to write from Rikers throughout all those years. And I always thought they're throwing them in the garbage. But she read them, and that meant the world to me. And she said, I know how much you went through. You stand here before me today as a true survivor.

[Anna Sinfield]

Finally, Judge Dibiase leans forward, a smile still on her face. And then she says the words, Kelly's been waiting to hear all this time resentenced, time served.

[Kelly Harnett]

I said, you, Honor is giving me my second chance at life. I walked out of the courtroom, and when I went back into the elevator, I faced the wall. They said, you don't have to face the wall.

[Anna Sinfield]

No longer able to contain herself, tears start rolling down Kelly's face. Before long, her lawyer, Kate Mogulescu, is by her side.

[Kelly Harnett]

I was like, it's over. It's really. It's over. It's over. Is it over? She's like, yes, Kelly, it's over, it's over.

[Anna Sinfield]

But here's the thing. Kate is wrong, because Kelly might be getting out of. But this story isn't over for her, not by a long shot. I'm Anna Sinfield, and from the teams at novel and iheart podcasts, this is the girlfriends jailhouse lawyer. Episode 8 no regrets. After Kelly's triumphant court date, she gets sent back to prison while they sort out all the admin for her release. As a bit of a distraction, Kelly throws herself into finishing up all her legal work for her jailhouse clients. It's the morning of the 5th of May, 2022. Kelly's busy putting the final touches together.

[Kelly Harnett]

I was actually up all night working on someone's case because leaving also meant leaving people's cases behind. But I made sure I kind of wrapped everything up.

[Anna Sinfield]

Kelly slides a folder full of paperwork under her last client's cell door.

[Kelly Harnett]

So, so hard leaving everyone. I have so much survivor skills.

[Anna Sinfield]

Just before she goes, Kelly divvies up all her precious prison belongings amongst her closest friends. She gives a coat to a girl called Lacey, a sweater to her friend Manny, and a pair of shoes to her friend Trinity. And then it's time to say goodbye.

[Kelly Harnett]

When I came out of the gates, I remember screaming and going, whoa. And putting my arms in the air.

[Anna Sinfield]

Kelly's being released alongside three other inmates. As she watches each of them embrace their families, sees them hugging so tight it's bound to leave bruises, she stands alone.

[Kelly Harnett]

I felt bad because the other people had their family there and I didn't. I didn't have anybody and everybody whose family was hugging them. And I just wanted to be with my mother.

[Anna Sinfield]

Kelly's mother, Kathleen, has been taken to Mount Sinai Hospital about 40 miles away. Kelly's brother Ronnie is by her bedside. As a condition of her parole, Kelly has to go straight to her approved accommodation. She's staying in a specialist facility that helps women released from prison.

[Kelly Harnett]

But I told them, you know, I have to get to the hospital immediately and thank God. They said, okay.

[Anna Sinfield]

As soon as she's able. Kelly's at the hospital.

[Kelly Harnett]

The lady asked, what's your name? Who are you here for? I said, kelly Harnett. I'm here for Kathleen Harnett. I didn't know her room number or anything. So she takes visitors past. She writes, Kathleen Harnett, room 333. She looks at her watch. It was 3:03. She goes, oh, my God. I said, what? She goes, something amazing is about to happen. Look at the threes. She said, father, Son and the Holy Spirit. My mouth dropped. I said, how did you know that something amazing is going to happen? I'm going to see my mother. For the first time in 13 years.

[Anna Sinfield]

Kelly practically runs down the hospital corridor until she finds room 333. Stepping in, she can see four women in beds. She frantically scans the room, searching for her mother. She doesn't recognize any of them.

[Kelly Harnett]

I said, do I have the right room? And then I looked in front of me, and then when I looked at her eyes, I said, that's my mother. That's my mother. I couldn't believe what I was seeing. It looked like you could break her. Like, I was afraid to touch her. I wanted to run and go, break down, but I said, you can't cry. You have to be as strong as possible for Mommy. And then I walked in and I tried to act like I had seen her yesterday. I said, ma, hi. And she goes, kelly. Oh, my God. Kelly, is it really you? Oh, my God. And she started to cry and smile at the same time. She couldn't lift her arms to hold out, so I leaned over and I hugged her. And she was like, you look so beautiful. I can't believe that you're out. When the time came that I had to leave and go to this new house, she started crying. And honestly, I was tearing up, too, because I didn't want to leave her. I wish I could have just stayed there with her all day because I was afraid. I didn't know, like, if she was going to be okay.

[Anna Sinfield]

The next day, Kathleen is released from hospital and goes back home to the family apartment. But she's still not well.

[Kelly Harnett]

And the worst part of getting out of prison is that the first two weeks are the busiest weeks of your life. You're running all around trying to get id, trying to get your birth certificate, trying to get go to the dmv. But I did make sure that I went to see her as much as possible.

[Anna Sinfield]

Kelly's not just busy running around searching for documents. Her Movements are also restricted by a nightly curfew. On the night of May 31, just a couple of weeks after Kelly's release, her brother Ronnie calls her up in a panic.

[Kelly Harnett]

He said, mommy's not doing so good. I said, what do you mean? And he said, she's not breathing that well on her own. He goes, you have to come home here. And I was on parole, so I had curfew.

[Anna Sinfield]

Their mom's breathing gets shallower. Kelly tells Ronnie to call an ambulance and that she'll call him back right away.

[Kelly Harnett]

I call Ronnie and I said, what's happening? And he's like, well, the ambulance is here. They don't have a pulse. I was standing outside, I fell to the ground and I was like, oh, my God. Like, please, please, God, please. I need my mommy. I need my mommy. I need my mommy. And then he said, kelly, I have a bad feeling. I have a bad feeling more and more.

[Anna Sinfield]

EMS, just keep.

[Kelly Harnett]

He said, there's about 19, 20 people up there.

[Anna Sinfield]

After an achingly long 16 minutes, the crowd of EMTs managed to find a pulse. Kathleen is taken back to hospital and put on a ventilator. She dies the next day on June 1, aged 72.

[Kelly Harnett]

I have so much guilt for not just breaking curfew that once I listened to the stupid freaking curfew and went home. But he needed me. He needed me, Ronnie needed me, and so did my mother. And my mother kept asking for me, he said, so she knew she was dying. My mother was asking for me on her deathbed. You know, we could laugh about it now, but her last last words were, give me a cigarette. My mother loved to smoke, so I have two shrines up in the house of her. So I always put cigarettes there for her because she never got the last one. So I always put them there for her.

[Anna Sinfield]

Kelly may be able to laugh about it now, but deep inside she's still grieving and she's still really angry.

[Kelly Harnett]

I lost 13 years of my life with my mother because I wasn't here, because I was in prison for something I didn't even goddamn do. It altered the whole family when they put me in prison. They put everybody in prison.

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[Kelly Harnett]

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[Kelly Harnett]

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[Kelly Harnett]

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[Kelly Harnett]

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[Anna Sinfield]

After Kathleen dies, Ronnie and Kelly have her cremated, just like they did for their father, Danny, when He died about 20 years before.

[Kelly Harnett]

My mom, when she used to get mad at him every once in a while after he was deceased, she would be like, you know what? Throw those ashes out. And I was like, no, Ma. No, we're not. When I was away, I told Ronnie, I said, please put Daddy's ashes as high up as they could possibly go so that Mommy can't find them. And he did.

[Anna Sinfield]

When Kelly gets back into their family apartment, she heads right for the closet. Straining on tiptoes, she pushes past all the piles of old clothes and forgotten ornaments until she sees them. Her dad's ashes waiting in their container. Kelly gently lifts them out.

[Kelly Harnett]

Dad, I know you're finally happy that you're out of the closet. Oh, God. He would laugh, too, if he was alive and heard me say that he was furthest thing from gay. But it was funny.

[Anna Sinfield]

They have to borrow money for their mum's cremation. None of them had any savings. In fact, it was pretty much the opposite. Kathleen had been in debt to the hospital pharmacy, but thanks to a GoFundMe page set up for Kelly and help from a prison support group, Kelly and Ronnie are able to get some cash together.

[Kelly Harnett]

When her ashes were finally delivered, Ronnie and I had already discussed going across the street. I live across the street from the East River. And disposing of the ashes together. Daddy's ashes and my mother's ashes.

[Anna Sinfield]

There's something about the girlfriends and the East River. No matter which story we tell, we always seem to get called back to these waters. You could find a hundred metaphors for life and death amongst the rolling waves. Maybe we were meant to find ourselves here at the east river, drawn in by kismet or fate or whatever you want to call it. But then again, maybe there's nothing to it and it's just one of those weird coincidences. Maybe it's just a nice place to say goodbye to someone.

[Kelly Harnett]

First. We started with my dad because we figured he. He was first. He's been very patient. We started throwing his ashes and throwing rose petals and throwing his ashes. Throwing rose petals. Rose petals. All of a sudden. I could not explain to you the way the water had changed. We had been there for at least a half an hour already. Not one solitary boat had passed by. And that's what creates waves. It almost looked like a pond. As soon as we started throwing knife on while there's ashes in the water, it started coming up these waves. Waves. But I didn't. I didn't feel that they were violent. I felt that it was his energy, and I felt that he was happy to be free. And I felt that he knew that his wife was coming finally. And then when we finished with his ashes, we went to my mom's. My mom's was very calm, to the contrary. And I just kept throwing out rose petals and rose petals and rose petals. Ronnie and I held each other's hands, said a prayer. And we thank them for everything and thank them for making us into the people who we are today. And thank them just for being our parents and that. That we got it from here.

[Anna Sinfield]

We'll never know how Kathleen feels about her ashes being scattered alongside her husband Danny's. She did love him once. Kelly still vividly remembers the pair of them kissing in that hotel pool in Disneyland. But he's also the same man who went AWOL from his family time and again, who attacked his wife, wrapping a phone cord around her neck, causing her to get a restraining order. Still, I can understand why Kelly would want them back together. Ask any kid from a broken home. And usually, deep down, their most heartfelt wish is for their parents to reunite. Maybe Kelly thinks that if she can bring her parents back together in the river, the effect will somehow ripple out and help heal the rest of her life. Or maybe all this water is just going to my head. Once Kelly's released from prison, she doesn't get to sit around pondering the symbolic connection between life and water like some artsy British podcaster. She has to get back to work fast so she can start rebuilding her life and just as importantly, start earning. But that's easier said than done. Part of Kelly's release agreement when her charge was changed to manslaughter and she was sentenced to time served, was that she had to enter a new plea of guilty. This wasn't what she wanted, especially after spending over a decade pleading her innocence.

[Kelly Harnett]

If you're entering a plea of guilty, you're saying you did it.

[Anna Sinfield]

But needs must.

[Kelly Harnett]

I had to get home to my mother. You have to do what you have to do sometimes.

[Anna Sinfield]

Kelly isn't exonerated in the eyes of the justice system. She's legally admitted her part in the killing of a man, and that'll stay on her record forever. So while she's now free, she has to deal with the price of that freedom for the rest of her life.

[Kelly Harnett]

Trying to get a job, for example.

[Anna Sinfield]

You can guess how many places want to hire someone with a record like Kelly's.

[Kelly Harnett]

The only jobs that I've gotten thus far have been jobs from people that actually know me personally and they know what I am capable of, which is why I was actually hired straight out of Bedford Hills. Like, while I was still within the prison walls, I had a job with NYU Law School.

[Anna Sinfield]

But Kelly finds out this new job is only temporary. Within four months, she's back looking for work.

[Kelly Harnett]

I was under the impression that due to my vast legal knowledge, this was going to be a lot easier for myself than for the average person. I mean, I've gotten many people out of jail. I've gotten so many sentence reductions and the fact that they were not even hearing me out because of the fact that they see conviction. Conviction.

[Anna Sinfield]

It's October 1, 2024. I'm back with Kelly, who's in her apartment that she shares with her brother Ronnie and her 25 stuffed animals. I know that jobs have been a big issue over the last kind of few months. I just wondered where, where you're at with your trying to get work situation.

[Kelly Harnett]

Yes, I'm actually currently trying to get work and I've been trying so hard.

[Anna Sinfield]

Yeah.

[Kelly Harnett]

And there is not a day that I don't apply to at least 20 jobs. And when I open my emails every day, there are over 100 emails. Sometimes there's 300. Without exaggeration, I go through every one with a fine tooth comb. So I have a full time job right now of trying to get a full time job.

[Anna Sinfield]

Despite helping to get several women out of prison, Kelly's not a qualified lawyer in the eyes of the state. After her release, she attended and graduated from a Columbia Law School paralegal program. But her real dream is to become an attorney, an actual lawyer. And for that, she needs to go back to law school. Something that would take years and thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of dollars. In the meantime, Kelly's applying for any work she can get.

[Kelly Harnett]

Actually, speaking of which, I had gone on a job interview. I don't want to say the company's name, but it's a great, great company and they were going to make me a financial advisor and everybody really liked me there. I didn't see a reason why I wouldn't get it. And I believe they did not either. They congratulated me and shook my hand and then as I was walking away, stated, we just have to do a quick background check. That's when my heart hit my stomach. I cried and I cried and I cried for weeks. I still cry. There's never a week where I don't cry. There's never a week. And I'll tell you the truth, it is not even over the conviction at this point. Or at least I don't think it is. If I could just get a chance to be the Kelly that I was when I was in there, I think I'll be fine. But that's what kept me going. My work. When you take my work from me now, I don't have anything.

[Anna Sinfield]

It's not just that Kelly's imprisonment and subsequent parole is impacting her job hunt. It's that the new life she sacrificed so much for seems to be built on sand. And I'm about to find out that Kelly's freedom is ready to slip away from her at a moment's notice.

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[Kelly Harnett]

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[Kelly Harnett]

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[Anna Sinfield]

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[Kelly Harnett]

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[Anna Sinfield]

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[Kelly Harnett]

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[Anna Sinfield]

Hi. How you doing?

[Kelly Harnett]

Good. Nice to see you again. We had such a crisis after you guys left yesterday. Yeah, out of nowhere. First and foremost, my parole officer.

[Anna Sinfield]

When Kelly was released from prison in 2022, she was originally sentenced to five years post release supervision, aka parole. But just like in prison, you're able to get time off for good behavior.

[Kelly Harnett]

Every 30 days that you abide by all of their rules, which is curfew, have a job, be in the programs that they expect for you to be in, then they give you 30 days back. So what it really boils down to is if you're perfect like I was, it's only two and a half years that you do.

[Anna Sinfield]

Kelly's worked hard to get her parole time down so she can live her life on her own terms. Now I have to check in with some state sanctioned babysitter every couple of months. She's due to finish on November 5, 2024, about a month on from the date of this recording, or at least she was last night. Kelly's parole officer stopped by. Her visit was unexpected.

[Kelly Harnett]

I was like, is she trying to, like, catch me? Like, before I leave? Like, to see if maybe I'm not home? Let me see if I can catch her. Like, she missed her curfew, so that was already weird. She asked me if I ever took anger management.

[Anna Sinfield]

Kelly has. It was one of the conditions of her parole.

[Kelly Harnett]

Of course I took anger management, and she's asked me that every single time that I've gone to see her. And I was in that program for nine months. So she proceeds to ask me where my certificate is. I was never given a certificate. I was told that it was to be given to my parole officer by the man who was conducting the program. Then she asked me, well, what else were you supposed to do? 2 and a half years later?

[Anna Sinfield]

It feels weird that it's her parole officer asking Kelly this. Like, shouldn't she know? Kelly was also originally supposed to enter a 12 month substance abuse program, but given that by the time of her release, she had been clean for over a decade, it was decided that this program could actually do Kelly more harm than good. So she was given an exemption. She says that this was outlined in a letter, but her parole officer is sounding unconvinced, so she said, well, we.

[Kelly Harnett]

Don'T have that letter, so I'm freaking out. I said, well, where is it? She said, I don't know. I don't know, but I need that. You know, if you can't get him, you just. You're gonna have to do the programs again. And acted like it was nothing, you know, you're just gonna have to do the programs again. That would mean that I would still be on parole. At least nine months past my date, I had the biggest nervous breakdown that I've had since my mother passed away. I was screaming to the top of my lungs, I broke down. Because being on parole is not actually free.

[Anna Sinfield]

Kelly's only hope is to track down her first parole officer who can confirm that she's completed all the programs she needs to.

[Kelly Harnett]

I'm devastated. I don't know. I don't know where I stand with anything. They got way too many years out of me already. I'm sorry that you guys caught me on a day like this, but that's unfortunately where I'm at today. Yeah.

[Anna Sinfield]

I'm so sorry.

[Kelly Harnett]

Sorry.

[Anna Sinfield]

That sounds really hard.

[Kelly Harnett]

Thank you.

[Anna Sinfield]

I hope this your first officer would be able to help.

[Kelly Harnett]

I hope so too. Yeah, she's my only hope.

[Anna Sinfield]

Well, look, I think the best solution for today is to not do the rest of the interview.

[Kelly Harnett]

And I was gonna ask about that.

[Anna Sinfield]

Why don't we move it to another day, and if you're around on Saturday, we have a free day then.

[Kelly Harnett]

Oh, you do? Okay. Because I said that to Ronnie. I said, I don't see how.

[Anna Sinfield]

I've been busy this whole time trying to tell you a story. A nice, juicy narrative with a satisfying ending. But this isn't just a story for Kelly. This is her life. And she's living it every single day. As far as reality checks go, this one's about as subtle as a punch in the face. I actually don't see Kelly in person again after this. Her and Ronnie got Covid, and I went back to London with no ending to my story. As soon as I got home, I tried and failed to set up a few more interviews over zoom, but for some reason or another, Kelly would often end up dropping out. I'll admit, I laid awake at night worried these back to back cancellations may actually be because this was all too much for Kelly, revisiting her traumatic past when her present is inches away from falling apart. So I gave her some space. A few weeks later, I give Kelly a call. The first question I wanted to ask you about was if you'd had any kind of update on the parole officer malarkey.

[Kelly Harnett]

Yes. So after I had that whole nervous breakdown when she stated that basically she had nothing on me, which means that.

[Anna Sinfield]

Every solitary Kelly goes on in a way that I've become used to, outlining all the issues with the parole board, how she had to track down her former parole officers and course leaders. All the pages of evidence she put.

[Kelly Harnett]

Together, open up a folder.

[Anna Sinfield]

If left uninterrupted, I honestly think she could go on indefinitely.

[Kelly Harnett]

Really call into question the integrity of the parole officer. How could you not have?

[Anna Sinfield]

She's not just talking. It's like she's testifying. Like every day is her court day. It makes me feel a little sad, honestly. They'll make her a fucking great lawyer one day. Eventually, I get the answer I'm hoping for.

[Kelly Harnett]

Now I speak to you today as a free woman.

[Anna Sinfield]

That's amazing. Oh, congratulations, Kelly.

[Kelly Harnett]

Thank you so much.

[Anna Sinfield]

You must feel so relieved.

[Kelly Harnett]

So relieved.

[Anna Sinfield]

Now that the shadow of her parole has finally passed, Kelly can start to plan her life and hopefully build a future for herself. What's like the. What's the dream for the Next five years.

[Kelly Harnett]

The next five years. I would say the dream is for me to find a paralegal job, one that is permanent, and to climb the ladder within that firm. And I know that I would climb the ladder very quickly. I also would love a chance to give back to people in prison. Honestly, where I would start, if it were up to me, is Rikers island. Because they don't realize how important the law library is. And it was always empty when I was there. So I feel that if given the chance, I would like to even possibly work at Rikers island at the law library. Really? Yeah.

[Anna Sinfield]

Wouldn't that be a bit much for you?

[Kelly Harnett]

No. No. Because I want especially the women to understand their cases. I think I have a mission from God. I think I was put here to save souls by getting people out of prison. That sounds like an insane statement, but that is my belief at this point.

[Anna Sinfield]

I came to this story thinking I knew what to expect, but I couldn't have been more wrong. I was searching for a clean, easy truth, and I had all these preconceived notions of what it means to be a victim. But when Kelly didn't fit into the role I tried to assign her. It made me question everything about her and a lot about myself, too. I've obviously interviewed a lot of people in my life who have had amazing experiences that are extraordinary. But I've never met anyone like you who. All of your stories, they're often kind of shocking and like, they're almost sometimes hard to believe. It's hard to believe that, Yes, I.

[Kelly Harnett]

Say that all the time. There's been a lot of insane stories. I agree.

[Anna Sinfield]

Yeah.

[Kelly Harnett]

You know, I'm not going to apologize for what perceives to be miraculous stories. What I will tell you, if you fail to understand them or even believe them, then unfortunately you're the one missing out. And I think that you need to pray more and have more things. Faith.

[Anna Sinfield]

Yeah, fair enough. I can safely say that I have never met anyone like Kelly Harnett before. Kelly is loud and disruptive. She's a former drug addict who's exercised violence on multiple occasions, both in self defense against violent partners and in prison as a way of letting other inmates know that she's not to be fucked with. Her battle for survival has been messy and at times ugly. She's told me so many stories that make me want to grab her by the shoulders and tell her to stop making herself look so bad. So, yeah, Kelly Harnett is no perfect victim, but you can't call her a villain. Either. She's a loving sister, a loyal friend, and you can't deny she worked fucking hard. Even if you don't believe her account of the night Angel Vargas was murdered, if you think she did kick him, or that she's somehow more culpable than she says, does that discount everything she went through at the hands of her brutal boyfriend? Or everything she's achieved in the years following? I don't think it does. Kelly, a survivor of the most devastating trauma and abuse, taught herself the law inside and out as a jailhouse lawyer, first in Rikers and then in Bedford. She brought hope to women who had been through hell and back, Women whose entire lives had been an endless cycle of abuse and violence, who often ended up trapped in terrible situations they were too scared to leave and who did whatever it took to survive. She even helped some of them gain their freedom. And ultimately, she freed herself. But for Kelly, that freedom has come at a high price. And I'm not just talking about the years she lost behind bars. Her legal admission of guilt leaves a kind of scarlet letter hanging permanently around her neck. Branded for life as a criminal. I don't know if that feels like justice to me. I can't sum Kelly up in a sentence or even in a whole fricking podcast. But maybe that's the lesson I need to take from this, that my job is just to tell people stories, not to neatly package them into categories, into victims or villains or anything else. So who is Kelly Harnett, really? Well, that's between her and the heavens.

[Kelly Harnett]

We are currently in Immaculate Conception Church and I've been coming here since I was 10 years old. We're currently standing in front of the sole representation that Immaculate Conception has of Saint Therese, my saint that has gotten me through, literally life. And it's a stained glass window of her.

[Anna Sinfield]

The window shows St Therese, her hair covered with a circular halo around her head. There are beams of heavenly light all around her. Her face is pale and she has wide chestnut colored eyes close to her heart. She's holding a crucifix and a bouquet of roses. As Kelly gazes up at her, she clasps her hands in prayer.

[Kelly Harnett]

Centeries. I do implore you to please send a shower of roses from the heavenly gardens as a message of love for the loss of Angel Reuben Vargas. And I'd like to pray for not just him and his soul. I'd like to pray for his entire family and their souls as well. I think of him all the time. If he's my angel, thank you for sending me my angel. But at the same time it's very. It's very bittersweet because I don't want anyone's life to be taken away because of me. So please also hold that with me, for it is too hard and too heavy for me to carry alone and ask God to hold it for me.

[Anna Sinfield]

Me.

[Kelly Harnett]

I want to thank you for everything and for giving me the strength to go through everything that I've gone through and to be able to get those women out. Thank you for allowing me to save a few souls, just like you saved so many. Thank you for choosing me for that job. I have no regrets.

[Anna Sinfield]

The Girlfriend's Jailhouse Lawyer is produced by Novel for iHeart Podcasts. For more from Novel, visit Novel Audio. The show is hosted by me, Anna Sinfield and is written and produced by me and Lee Meyer with additional production from Jake Otajevic and Michael Jino. Our assistant producer is Madeline Parr. The editors are Georgia Moody and me, Anna Sinfield, Production management from Cherie Houston, Jo Savage and Charlotte Wolf. Our fact checker is Danya Suleiman. Sound Design, mixing and scoring by Daniel Kempson and Nicholas Alexander Music supervision by me, Alice Enfield, Lee Meyer and Nicholas Alexander Original music composed by Nicholas Alexander, Daniel Kempson and Louisa Gerstein Story development by Nell Gray Andrews and Willard Foxton, Creative Director of Novel. Max o' Brien and Craig Strachan are our executive producers for Novel and Katrina Norvell and Nikki Etor are the executive producers for iHeart podcasts and the marketing lead is Alison Cantor. Thanks also to Carrie Lieberman and the whole team at WME.

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