Do you remember 2020?
People were getting sick, and no one knew why.
By the time we understood what was happening, it was already worldwide.
We were told to shut down for “a couple of weeks.”
Those weeks turned into months.
Store shelves were empty. People were stockpiling toilet paper out of fear.
Now imagine you owned a business during that time.
The supplies you depended on simply stopped being manufactured.
You complied with the government’s shutdown.
Your suppliers went silent.
Your manufacturer said the products had shipped—but they never arrived.
Meanwhile, your customers had already paid.
You spent weeks—months—trying to find answers, trying to make things right.
In the end, you were advised to close your business and file for bankruptcy.
And you did.
You directed your customers to larger companies—companies with the resources to survive the scariest time of our lives—so they would be taken care of.
Then imagine this.
Years later, after those customers received what they paid for, they chose to bring
criminal charges against you.
They claimed you had stolen from them—when they knew you had not.
They knew you had acted in good faith.
They knew you had done everything you could in an impossible moment.
Remember, this was 2020.
People were stockpiling toilet paper.
Now imagine those accusations led the State to convict you.
To sentence you to 14 years in state prison—for something you did not do.
Not a mistake.
Not negligence.
Nothing.
While those same people live freely with their families, inside the buildings they purchased, you sit behind bars—separated from your loved ones—convicted of a crime you never committed.
You did nothing wrong.
Just imagine.
Yolanda Tanksley