27-Year-Old Man Gets "20 Years Hard Labor" for Half an Ounce of Pot

Well I will never move to Louisiana..

A 27 year old new Orleans man got 20 years in prison for possession of 15 grams of pot..

He had a previous drug conviction and was sentenced as a multiple offender to 20 years hard labor at the Department of Corrections.

OMG 20 years for some weed wtf..

What the hell is going on in this country when we can have states where having 15 grams of pot is totally legal and another state it can get you 20 years

In Louisiana, a person can get up to six months in jail for first marijuana conviction, up to five years in prison for the second conviction and up to twenty years in prison for the third. In fact, the Louisiana Supreme Court recently overturned a sentence of five years as too lenient for a fourth possession of marijuana and ordered the person sentenced to at least 13 years

I have seen lots of polls where the majority of Americans support the legalization of marijuana, but they keep arresting us for it

Nationwide, the latest numbers from the FBI report that over 762,000 arrests per year are for marijuana, almost exactly half of all drug arrests

I think our jails are full enough and we have no business putting a guy in jail for 20 years over some weed

20 years, but a child rapist in Montana gets 30 days..

Moral of this story, if you want to smoke marijuana move the hell out of Louisiana..

www.truth-out.org...

eta

How can this happen? What are we a 3rd world country now? How can anyone think this is ok?

Why would a cop even arrest him knowing it will probably get him hard time? Just throw it out,,

It's just frikin pot

20 years is ridiculous for possession of a half ounce of marijuana.. In almost every other state that would be a Misdemeanor

goou111
What the hell is going on in this country when we can have states where having 15 grams of pot is totally legal and another state it can get you 20 years

Well, different States in the US have different local laws. Surely that's an expression of the democracy, thus demonstrating something works. With regards to multiple offenders, such as this person... He knew the rules.

Personally, I think the US sentencing and prison services are backwards, from the death penalty down, but these are rules that the US people seem to like. Just like guns.

Regards

reply to post by goou111


Unbelievable. Im with ya. Im never gonna get caught stepping foot in that state.

reply to post by goou111


The first question that comes to mind is Louisiana a "Private Prison" state? With a sentence like that I'll hazard a guess of "Yes!"

Poor guy should of moved up here and he'd of been fine. Maybe he can appeal it on grounds that the judge was insane.

reply to post by goou111


The United States as a whole would save alot of money if they took those in jail with these type of convictions, and just set them free.

Contact your local and State Officials if you want these BS Laws changed.

The only way it will.

S&F

There's a site called Escape Artist. Go there. Get out while you still can.

I think it's incredibly stupid that one country can have states where its legal - and another state have such harsh penalties. To an outsider it just sounds totally ridiculous.

bkaust
I think it's incredibly stupid that one country can have states where its legal - and another state have such harsh penalties. To an outsider it just sounds totally ridiculous.

To this American it sounds totally ridiculous

Meanwhile every perv is being released into our neighborhoods. 15 GRAMS? Mind-numbing.

Yeah, let's make sure we get the potheads out of the way because when TSHTF they are going to be a huge problem. Much more so than rapists and murderers. Geez.

reply to post by Bassago

Maybe he can appeal it on grounds that the judge was insane.

lol..

This is rediculious.

And how much time did the bankers get for money laundering, stealing peoples homes and destroying thousand's of American's lives.


This has got to stop. They are destroying lives.

Im not condoning drug use.


spelling

I have lived in the Bayou and travel to NOLA often. I know two dealers that got busted and only one had any jail time. Less than a year. Amazing since it was a second or third strike. The guy that got no jail time... I swear this part is true. The cops left the pot. He was dealing out of his business and had a shop with a countertop for handling customers. The weed went into an evidence bag and was placed on the counter. The cops end up not taking the dealer in and settle with paperwork and release him. Then the cops leave but fail to take the weed. About a 1/2lb in a ziplock bag on the counter. The dealer left it there for a week even with customers coming in and asking about it. Then it started to shrink a small bit daily. About a week and the bag contained zero evidence. In the meantime he is checking the court daily to find out when he has to go in front of a judge. For those two weeks nothing was filed. Nothing since either.
The place is corrupt. If you can't persuade someone in power to your bidding you probably go to church with someone that can.
Jail. seen below it ain't too bad.

You her me?

reply to post by shockedonlooker


Mind numbing? Na, need a little more than 15 grams. (I knew what you meant)

Bassago
Maybe he can appeal it on grounds that the judge was insane.

Well, he was the insane one, knowing the law, being convicted of the same offence 2 times before then being caught with drugs for a third time!

reply to post by hellobruce

Well, he was the insane one, knowing the law, being convicted of the same offence 2 times before then being caught with drugs for a third time!

People have vices..

As long as you are not hurting anyone besides yourself, no one should care..

I keep thinking of this scene and how that guy must have felt when he heard 20 years.

reply to post by goou111


This is the same reason why I got my medical card.

100% legal for me as it is now my medicine. So now if a cop pulls me over I can have a rolly in my ear and they can't say a single thing.

reply to post by goou111


:duhnly in america

Clearly too harsh of a punishment. I read on other articles that he had been convicted of other crimes before; which would explain partly why he got so many years for just having a little pot. Regardless, it is pot which is not really a big deal to a half oz on your person in the United States. A lot of people carry around much more than a half oz.

This verdict is a good reason to never live in that state for sure.

The answer is in your sentence here: "I think our jails are full enough and we have no business putting a guy in jail for 20 years over some weed "

Our jails are full we have business.
Somebody is making mucho $ from these draconian laws.
Don't expect them to change, corporations are sacred you know.