First Time Felon is a 1997 American drama television film directed by Charles S. Dutton, written by Daniel Therriault, and starring Omar Epps and Delroy Lindo. Based on actual events, the film is about Greg Yance (Epps), a young drug dealer and first-time offender facing a five-year prison sentence with no parole. He is offered an alternate sentence of 120 days in a grueling boot camp headed by Sgt. Calhoun (Lindo). Rachel Ticotin, Justin Pierce, Treach, and William Forsythe also star.
First Time Felon aired on HBO on September 6, 1997.
Contents
Plot
A young inexperienced drug dealer and Vice Lords gang member, Greg Yance, is arrested for drug possession in his hometown, Chicago. Because of Yance having five grams of drugs under his belt at the time of arrest, he is facing a five-year prison sentence with no parole for drug trafficking. Because it is his first offense, he is offered an alternate sentence of 120 days in an intensive boot camp.
Throughout the boot camp, an experienced drill sergeant, Sergeant Calhoun, continues pressuring Yance to follow through with the camp. Sergeant Calhoun's brutal methods breed resentment in Yance and other inmates.
Cast
Omar Epps as Greg Yance
Delroy Lindo as Sergeant Calhoun
Lucinda Jenney as Sharon
Rachel Ticotin as McBride
William Forsythe as Sorley
Jo D. Jonz as "Pookie"
Treach as Tyrone
Pepa as Laverne
Justin Pierce as Eddie
Gary Anthony Williams as Wallace
Badja Djola as Disciple Leader
Robin Michelle McClamb as Greg's Mother (credited as Robin Vaughn)
Tom Nowicki as Hogan
Kristen Jones as Crystal
Ed Grady as Johnny, The Farmer
Deborah Hobart as Annie Hill
Johnell Gainey as Nine
K. Addison Young as Wolf
Roger Ranney as Guardsman Jones
Charles S. Dutton as Inmate
Clifton Powell as King
Production
Filming took place in New York City, Green Cove Springs, Florida, and Jacksonville, Florida.