February 12, 2008

Ronald Isley 31215-112
FCI Terre Haute
Federal Correctional Institution
PO Box 33
Terre Haute IN 47808-0033

Dear Ronnie,

I am sorry to hear of your recent appeal denial. It breaks my heart to hear you are sitting in prison. Today was the first I learned of it. Please forgive me for not knowing and writing sooner.

I remember sitting in your late brother Kelly’s office almost 40 years negotiating a recording contract with him for the band I was managing called, Raven. We all met at the Glen Park Inferno in Buffalo New York while you were performing there as the Isley Brothers. You and your brothers loved the band and wanted to sign Raven to your newly formed record company, T-Neck Records. 

We all sat listening to your smash hit, “It’s Your Thing” on the radio. Every time Kelly turned the radio to another station, that powerhouse of a song came on. It truly was “Number One” and I will always remember our time together.

Who knew back then our lives would take so many twists and turns? We all certainly went on to “do our own thing,” didn’t we? I wound up having to pay a heavy price for my out of control life. I sat where you are sitting now, except I served my time in the Federal Correctional Institution in Lexington Kentucky. 

As I look back on my life, I realize I needed to go to prison. That is a hard statement to shallow, however, if I was not arrested and incarcerated I truly would have been dead along time ago from a drug overdose. Jesus Christ saved my life, brother Ron. He really did!

Please check out my book I am sending you under separate cover entitled, “Once Life Matters: A New Beginning.” It is a quick read and one I hope will inspire you to continue to seek God’s plan and purpose for your life. I know once you are released from your captivity Jesus will use you in His army of ex-convicts who are out here preaching and teaching His Word all over the world. 

May God bless you and keep you, and may His Light always shine upon you and give you Peace. 



Marty Angelo
/ma