I had a prison wedding with my abusive husband, but conjugal visits are prohibited
WHEN Gabriella Moore married the love of her life in an intimate ceremony, unlike other brides, she wasn’t excited about her wedding night.
Three years after their big day, the model from Lithuania has never had one sex with her husband becaWhen they met, he was incarcerated in Michigan prison.
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Detroit native Jamal, 29, is serving the twelfth year of his 22-to-45-year prison sentence.
“I believe my husband was wrongfully convicted by the Michigan Department of 12 years ago Corrections,” Gabriella told The US Sun.
“It was for murder in the second degree, and he was imprisoned on hearsay and convicted by the Bench trial.”
Jamal, who also maintains his innocence, wrote a memoir called If Pain Was a Person.
Gabriella and Jamal made their vows in front of a prison chaplain, a lifelong production director, and one of Gabriella’s close friends.
The newlyweds enjoyed a four-hour visit after saying “I do” in 2022.
“We didn’t have the experience to wait until our wedding night to be intimate,” Gabriella said.
Yet they “make intimacy work” with modernity inventions make things easier.
“Working playfully on the phone works especially when you can implement toys and other things, and it gets tough,” she said.
Gabriella travels three to four times a year and spends up to $3,000 to see Jamal.
She will spend a month in a hotel or with friends near the Michigan prison, where conjugal visits are prohibited.
“You can’t have sex during a visit because Michigan doesn’t have the conjugal visit option,” she explained.
“Anything sexual can get you a sexual misconduct ticket and lose your visits, and that’s for security reasons in jail.
“We can kiss, and there is some degree of sexuality, but even holding each other would be a straight no.
“I know the sex wouldn’t be the same as what we have emotionally. But it would be special.
“We didn’t have the physicality before, but I got to know him at such a level that no one else normally can.
“The good thing is that we are emotionally connected, and our chemistry is so high.
“I’m looking forward to intimacy, but I’m glad we’re socially connected.”
When I saw the ad and photo of Jamal’s Pen Pal, I found it attractive and thought it was a sight to behold.
Gabriella Moore
After Gabriela contacted Jamal via Pen Pal at the end of 2021, we immediately clicked.
Many prisoners like Jamal use the service to connect with society, and people send them photos and cards.
Gabriella reached out because she was curious after seeing Jamal’s ad during the pandemic.
WORLD OUTSIDE
“When I saw the Pen Pal ad and photo of Jamal, I found him attractive and thought he was easy on the eyes,” she said.
“I didn’t expect anything to come of it.
“But I felt like someone in prison wouldn’t judge me, and that I could be myself.
“It wasn’t necessarily a romantic move for me, and I understood that Jamal may have longed for communication with the outside world.
“The only thing I knew about Jamal was that he did not commit crimes against women or children.”
We never had a girlfriend-boyfriend phase and went from friends to engaged.
Gabriella Moore
After corresponding for about four months, Jamal and Gabriella met for the first time via video call in 2021.
But even before that moment, the couple had already told each other they loved each other.
ROOM FOR IMPROVEMENT
“I was very nervous, and when he said I love you, I was quite scared to respond,” she said.
“I knew when I did that that was it, and there was no going back for us.”
Connecting face-to-face escalated the relationship toward an engagement on June 28, 2022.
Jamal has proposed to Gabriella thirteen times.
“We had the permission to see how we connected, and so when we finally saw each other, we had a good connection,” she revealed.
“It was crazy because we never had a girlfriend-boyfriend phase and went from friends to engaged.
“Through these experiences you get to know someone and understand what he or she likes and dislikes.
wasn’t afraid to marry Jamal, but it was a big decision.
Gabriella Moore
“I learned about the traumas, what makes Jamal happy, and his morals and values.
“We have learned what we expect from life and how we want to improve.
“All these things came together for Jamal and me, and our feelings developed.”
Gabriella quickly sent a visit request to his facility.
After about six weeks, she was added to an approved list and the couple prepared to get married indoors.
Two years after writing to each other via PenPal, they got married in a small 30-minute ceremony on EXACT DATE GABRIELLA.
BIG MOMENT
“I wasn’t afraid to marry Jamal, but it was a big decision,” she said
“We wanted to be together and one family.
“Organizing was also stressful because the whole process was very complicated.
My family was stunned when I told them about Jamal.
Gabriella Moore
“There were documents to go through and I had to get my birth certificate, passport and his birth certificate.
“We had to fill it out wedding package, send his and my details and wait for the director’s approval.
Interestingly, when Gabriella told her family about Jamal, she said they were shocked, but ultimately gave them a chance.
“My family was stunned when I told them about Jamal,” she revealed.
“My mother was concerned at first, but I reassured her that Jamal was a wonderful person.
“When I explained how I met Jamal, we talked about him as a person and his situation, and they decided to give us a chance.
“Then they had a chance to talk to him and get to know Jamal alone.
‘My parents could have condemned us, but they didn’t.
“In the end, my family congratulated us both and wished us happiness and long years together.”
Lifetime contacted Gabriella to appear Prison brides in late 2022, allowing her to share her real-life story.
To this day, she fights hard for her husband, who she believes was wrongly convicted.
She continues to raise money for a lawyer working on Jamal’s case. She hopes to reopen it in the future future.
THE WORST CASE
Gabriella says she has been advocating for a wrongful conviction for years and believes an injustice has been committed.
“The only reason my husband was convicted was based on his mother’s testimony,” she said.
I’m still young, so when he comes home I’ll be 37.
Gabriella Moore
“We want to open the case and work to get a new sentence, otherwise Jamal can be pardoned or acquitted based on new evidence.
“If the worst-case scenario is that Jamal will unfortunately spend another ten years in prison, I don’t think about that.
“I’m still young, so when he comes home I’ll be 37,” she said.
“So one day we will remarry or renew our vows and have the ceremony as soon as I get Jamal home.”
To this day, Gabriella fights hard for her husband, who she believes was wrongly convicted.
“The truth will set him free, and that’s what Jamal likes to say,” she added.
“I believe Jamal is also an African American man who was wrongly convicted.
“I’m doing my best to find a way to help him possibly get his life back.”
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