Forty-year-old Bennie Gray Jr., who is serving his second lengthy prison sentence, continues to file appeals, grievances and motions from his prison cell at the Corrigan-Radgowski Correctional Center in Montville.

Gray will have to continue his legal work from inside prison walls, since a judge on Monday refused to reduce the $500,000 he would be required to post to be released while appealing his latest sentence. 

Incarcerated as a teenager for the 1997 shooting death of DeJohn Strong in New London, Gray served 18 years in prison for manslaughter and a narcotics offense.

Police said he returned almost immediately to the drug trade following his release in 2017. In July, Judge Hunchu Kwak sentenced him to 12 more years in prison for selling an eighth of a gram of crack cocaine to a man on May 9, 2018, in New London. He received an enhanced sentence due to his prior criminal record.

Gray had represented himself at his trial in April, with attorney William T. Koch Jr. serving as standby counsel. On Monday, Koch once again stood by as Gray argued his motion for an appeal bond reduction.

Prior to the argument, Judge Kwak noted for the court record that Gray has filed a grievance against him for a ruling Kwak made during the trial, but that he would still be presiding over Gray's case. 

Gray argued that the $500,000 appeal bond is excessive and punitive. He said he has never failed to appear in court and he believes he'll win his appeal. He also argued that he wouldn't need to be tracked via GPS should he be released, but the judge said that argument is moot unless or until Gray is released. Prosecutor Sarah W. Bowman objected to a bond reduction.

"You've been convicted by a jury of your peers for possession with intent to sell," Kwak said in denying the motion. "This is your second offense. As for the appeal, there's no guarantee of an outcome."

k.florin@theday.com