They’ve Got Next: Appellate Fresh Face Brad Garcia

Stoney Lester can thank O’Melveny & Myers’ Brad Garcia for getting him out of federal prison years before he was set for release.

Lester was staring down a nearly 22-year term, after pleading guilty in 2004 to selling crack-cocaine in Georgia and being designated a career offender. That offender designation was wrong—11 years wrong—but Garcia still needed to convince the Fourth Circuit to grant Lester relief.

He did, leading to a 2018 win for his pro bono client and, in turn, for other inmates who can take advantage of the ruling. Lester’s misclassification as a career offender is a fundamental ...