On January 23, 2026, U.S. district judge William F. Jung entered an order granting the motions for early termination of probation filed by African People’s Socialist Party Chairman Omali Yeshitela, along with Penny Hess and Jesse Nevel, two leaders in the movement for white reparations to Black people. They will go live from St. Louis on Wednesday, February 4 at 2pm CST on the Burning Spear TV YouTube channel to discuss and take questions on this development.
In his order, judge Jung wrote, “The motions for early termination are granted, effective at 5:00 pm (Eastern) today’s date. This would be a very, very different case if the foreign national defendants were facing charges. The present, domestic defendants are not a danger to themselves or to society (however disagreeable might be their point of view).”
This means the Uhuru 3 will no longer be subject to Court-ordered supervision including needing permission from probation officers to travel outside the eastern District of Missouri and being subject to unscheduled home inspections. Probation also carried the threat that an arrest on any charge, including misdemeanor traffic violations or protest participation, could prompt additional charges of probation violation, revocation of probation and imprisonment.
The Uhuru 3 had been serving 3 years probation from their 2024 conviction on baseless charges of “conspiring to serve as unregistered agents of Russia”, despite their acquittal on the foundational charge of actually being “unregistered agents of Russia”. They await 11th Circuit Court response to their appeals filed in June 2025 to overturn the wrongful conviction and continue to seek financial contributions for legal costs.
Yeshitela, Hess and Nevel had faced up to 15 years in prison and $500,000 fines on the original charges filed in April 2023 following violent FBI raids on seven offices and homes of the Uhuru (Swahili word for ‘freedom’) Movement in two states – Missouri and Florida – on July 29, 2022.
Everything the Uhuru 3 were accused of doing in the indictment were instances of constitutionally-protected speech. It was the first time that foreign agent espionage laws had been used in a case citing only speech and opinion.
The federal case against the Uhuru 3, initiated under the Biden administration, was the canary in the coal mine for today’s wave of attacks on the rights of institutions and individuals to exercise their freedom of speech, assembly and association. The successful fightback organized in support of the Uhuru 3 gives credence to the motto that “When we fight, we will win.”
A “Hands Off Uhuru! Hands Off Africa!” campaign was built and won political and material support from a broad political spectrum of free speech defenders, social justice activists and international solidarity organizers.
The Uhuru 3 legal team – Leonard Goodman, Ade Griffin, Mutaquee Akbar, Angela Reaney and Tom Inkseep – compiled and presented convincing evidence in court that the speeches and publications at issue represented the Uhuru Movement’s own views and opinions consistently expressed over decades, and not at the “direction and control” of Russia.
Despite prosecutors calls for prison time and stiff fines, on December 16, 2024 judge Jung sentenced the Uhuru 3 to three years probation and 300 hours of community service, about which he admitted, “you can do it standing on your head” since that’s what the Uhuru Movement does.
Judge Jung stated, “No one’s going to prison; no one’s going to be fined,” adding that no one had been hurt or lost money in commission of the alleged crimes. Jung described the contradictory nature of the 951 statute and his concerns about infringement on First Amendment rights. “If not for the requirement to register as a foreign agent, everything in the indictment would be legal and protected speech.”
He also acknowledged receipt of over 1600 “character” letters in support of the Uhuru 3 and took note of the overflowing courtrooms throughout the trial and at the sentencing hearing.
By their January 2026 filings for “early termination of probation”, Yeshitela, Hess and Nevel had each completed their required 300 hours of community service.
Chairman Omali’s motion for probation termination read, in part: “Mr. Yeshitela has dedicated his life to the work of the African People’s Socialist Party, an organization that he founded in 1972. The African People’s Socialist Party is a world-wide movement for the liberation of all African people…. to educate and promote the liberation of all African people by participating in speaking engagements, publishing books and pamphlets and empowering local communities with farmers markets, communal kitchens, health care centers, housing opportunities and skills training programs.”
Penny Hess’ attorney wrote: “She has dedicated her life to creating a better world through support of the African community and an end to war. Her work includes fundraising campaigns to develop APSP programs. Since the 1970s, she has coordinated numerous events supporting the African community and speaks out against genocide.”
Jesse Nevel’s motion reported: “In addition to being in full compliance with the terms of his probation, Mr. Nevel has also graduated from the University of St. Louis-Missouri with a Bachelors of Arts degree, summa cum laude. Mr. Nevel has applied to attend law school and is hoping to start in the Fall of 2026.”
Lodging the prosecution’s opposition to early termination of probation for the Uhuru 3, U.S. Attorney Gregory W. Kehoe failed to convince the judge with his “Russiagate” hyperbole that: “… the nature of the conspiracy in this case makes it difficult if not impossible to assess whether the nefarious domestic network has been uprooted and deterred from further covert work on behalf of the Russian government. Allowing early termination of a probationary sentence would undermine the goals of sentencing and signal to those bad actors that consorting with a hostile foreign intelligence service is not viewed as a national security threat.”
Upon notice of the early termination of the Uhuru 3’s probation, APSP Chairman Omali Yeshitela declared, “They wanted us to plead guilty to something we had not done or to run and hide. We stood and fought, as I have fought for over 60 years for the liberation of African and all colonized peoples. We continue to fight for a free world and to build a liberated economy to negate the current colonial mode of production. We are winning! African people will be free!”
More info and court docs available for review at handsoffuhuru.org
