Kelly Brasier feared the first time she would meet her 84-year-old uncle would be at his funeral.

For months, she was working to secure his early release from Sterling Correctional Facility, where the coronavirus has infected more than 1,300 people and killed nine.

Anthony Martinez, who uses a wheelchair, is nearly deaf and blind, and suffering from dementia, posed no threat to the community, she argued.

Early Friday morning, she greeted her uncle for the first time outside the northeast Colorado prison, after he was granted clemency by Gov. Jared Polis last month.

“We are extremely happy Mr. Martinez has finally been released. It has been a longtime coming, too long” said Denise Maes, public policy director for the American Civil Liberties Union of Colorado, in a statement.

“It is also bittersweet because Mr. Martinez is an example of so many more people who can and should be safely released. In the end, his release should signify to the Governor: do your part,” Maes said on behalf of ACLU, who has advocated for Martinez’s early release.

Among Martinez’s first requests were a bubble bath and an enchilada, according to the ACLU, whose members met Brasier and Martinez outside the prison.

Martinez, who was among four people granted clemency by the governor last month, was sentenced in 1989 to spend the rest of his life in prison with the possibility of parole for second-degree burglary and for being a habitual criminal.

Polis cited Martinez’s declining health in his letter pardoning him .

“As you wrote to me in your clemency application, you are now 84 years old, and you are not the person you once were,” Polis wrote. “While you understand you are unable to change your past mistakes, you know that taking accountability is important. You express remorse for your actions and credit statements you read from your past victims with your new way of thinking about your past and your future.”

Polis also commuted the sentences of three other inmates in late December, noting that the men had shown rehabilitation efforts and served their time. He also granted 18 pardons.

“Pardons and commutations make second chances possible for people. As Governor, I understand that granting pardons and commutations is a tremendous responsibility and requires careful consideration of every individual who applies,” the governor said in a statement.

Since the start of the pandemic, criminal justice advocacy organizations have been urging officials for early release of people inside jails and prisons to mitigate the spread of the coronavirus and protect those who are medically vulnerable.

In March, Polis signed an executive order that lowered the standards for early parole, granting supervised release to inmates who are at risk of serious complications and who are judged to be a low risk to the public.

During the three months that his early release protocol was in effect, 249 people inside prisons were released, according to data provided by Colorado Department of Corrections spokeswoman Annie Skinner. That was less than 1.5% of the estimated 17,400 people inside Colorado’s 22 state prisons and two private prisons as of March, according to a DOC monthly population report.

The governor’s order was allowed to expire at the end of May, weeks after parolee Cornelius Haney, who was granted early parole under the program, was arrested in the killing of a 21-year-old woman in Denver.

The governor didn’t provide an explanation for his reversal, but some believe the killing factored into his decision.

Brasier, who The Gazette spoke with last month, said she has been fighting for her uncle’s release for several years but her request became more urgent due to the pandemic.

“I’ve had a room ready in my house for six years,” said Brasier, who lives in Pennsylvania with her husband.