Ernest Carter biography: 13 things about Fresno, California man AKA Le’Taxione

Ernest A. Carter is an American man originally from Fresno, California, United States. He is a published author, an activist advocating for gang violence prevention and one of the founding members of a gang in Fresno.

Who is Le’Taxione?

Born in 1964, Carter published eight books while in prison. He published one more book outside prison.

Carter is also known as Le’Taxione and YoYo. Here are 13 more things about him:

1. In 1974, he picked up a .22 revolver that had been dropped during a drug-related shooting. He later used it to shoot a man.
2. In 1983, he was convicted of assault with a firearm on a police officer in California.
3. In 1988, he was convicted of felony possession and distribution of a controlled substance in Oregon, USA.
4. In 1990, he was convicted of attempted murder in Oregon.
5. In 1998, the Pierce County Superior Court in Pierce County, Washington, USA convicted him of two counts of first-degree robbery and sentenced him as a persistent offender to life in prison. It was his third serious offense so he was eligible for life without parole under the persistent offender law.
6. In 2007, he founded the Nine Steps to Empower Process (N’STEP), an innovative, non-traditional and effective approach to gang violence prevention.
7. In 2015, the Clemency and Pardons Board unanimously recommended that 23rd Washington governor Jay Inslee commute his sentence.
8. In December 2016, he was sent to a work release program.
9. In 2017, he refused a drug test and failed an alcohol breath test.
10. In 2018, he was released. After leaving prison, he enrolled at Spokane Falls Community College in Spokane, Spokane County, Washington and became the vice president of the school’s Black Student Union and member of the executive board of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) branch in Spokane.
11. A woman accused him of hitting her many times, trying to strangle her and biting her on the left side of her face on the evening of December 14, 2020. On December 17, 2020, he was arrested on suspicion of domestic violence assault.
12. In January 2021, a Department of Corrections hearing officer found that he violated the terms of his release.
13. On March 8, 2023, he argued in a court filing that it was impossible for him to get a fair trial in Spokane County due to racial bias in the prosecutor’s office, police prejudice and pre-trial publicity.