The Clemency Project: Stomach, and now, liposarcoma cancer

Ronnie Loggins

Ronnie Loggins has liposarcoma cancer. The tumor, located on his inner thigh, likely has grown beyond what is operable. Radiation treatments were unsuccessful and caused other health complications. The 39-year-old retired military veteran, is a stomach cancer survivor also suffering from bleeding ulcers.

Ronnie resides in Lansing’s minimum security unit, and despite his illnesses with the accompanying pain and fatigue, he has thrown himself into Kansas Department of Corrections work programs, has a job lined up for when he is released, and has ample family support to make a successful transition.

Sentenced in 2015, set for release in 2023, and battling cancer and those other ailments, Ronnie wonders what the KDOC has to gain from his continued incarceration, particularly as COVID-19 rages in congregate spaces like Lansing (800 residents and 100 staffers there have tested positive).

Loggins, who once owned his owned a concrete company, said he has worked hard to prepare himself for release.

“I have gained valuable experience working a maintenance job and have even poured and finished some concrete jobs,” he said in his clemency application. “In early Fall 2019, I got a private industry job at Lacrosse Furniture…. This clearance to work at the facility’s private industry job shows the trust the Kansas Department of Corrections already has in me to work in the community.”

If released, he will return to Geary County and live with his fiancée and five children.

His six years served in the U.S. Army grants him medical care through the VA Hospital system and the KU Medical Center also has offered to continue to treat him at no cost following his release.

Given his ailments, he may not have much time left.

“I’m humbly asking the Governor to grant me clemency so that I can safely return to the community and begin the next chapter of my life.