Ex-Carrera inmate to remarry at island prison

Former inmate of the Carrera Island Prison, Antonio Sealy, aka Sonny Dagger, who went through the hard life of prison, left these shores 36 years ago and is now a renowned pastor in Brooklyn, has chosen a novel way to reach out to those currently incarcerated. He plans to remarry his wife of 35 years, Angela Sealy, at a ceremony to be held tomorrow on the island prison, to be witnessed by prisoners and members of the public.

“The reason I am doing this,” explained pastor Sealy, now known as Sonny Cross, “is to let the nation and the prisoners know if they turn their lives to Jesus Christ there is hope outside of prison.” Sonny Cross first went to prison at the age of 16 at the Youth Training Centre for three years, and then served two separate periods of three and seven years for wounding, chopping, robbery with violence and other crimes at Carrera Island Prison. having been incarnated with the likes of Raffick Poolol and Mano Benjamin, he changed his nickname from Sonny Dagger to Sonny Cross, when he accepted Jesus Christ in 1967.

After his release, he joined the Salvation Army and migrated to New York in 1968, where he again fell into a life of crime and met his wife, Agnes, at the Abraham and Strauss Department Store in New York, where they both worked. Two children, a boy and girl, were born out of the marriage. Not long after that, pastor Sealy was reconverted and founded the Rescue Mission Church and the Pan for Jesus Orchestra in Brooklyn, which he now heads. At first, the church targetted criminals and prisoners in the New York area where he received a humanitarian award from former Mayor Rudolph Giuliani for the work he did in assisting with the reduction of crime. As a result of his work, several prisons in the New York area were closed and crime substantially reduced.

Sealy then spread his wings to the Caribbean, visiting Barbados and Grenada, where he did lectures on  his life, his conversion, his relation with God and the possibilities to inmates. The couple has received both the blessings of the Ministry of  National Security and the Prison Service as another juncture in part of its prison reform plans. The couple’s daughter will today  teach cosmetology to inmates at the Women’s Prison at Golden Grove. The ceremony is carded for 10 am tomorrow at the Carrera Island Prison.