22 year old man recieves 55 year prison sentence for selling pot.

Sorry if this is a dupe, but I didn't see anything. I just heard this on Air America Radio.

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/11/national/11sentence.html


Prison Term of 55 Years for Drugs Is Upheld

By KIRK JOHNSON
Published: January 11, 2006

DENVER, Jan. 10 - A federal appeals court has upheld a 55-year prison term imposed on a Utah man with no criminal record who was convicted in 2003 of selling several hundred dollars worth of marijuana on three occasions.

The case of the man, Weldon H. Angelos, a record producer from Salt Lake City who was 22 at the time of his crime, has become a benchmark in the debate about sentencing rules and justice. The trial judge in the case complained in issuing the sentence, which was required by federal statutes, that he thought it excessive, and 29 former judges and prosecutors agreed, in a brief filed on Mr. Angelos's behalf.

But a three-judge panel of the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals, in a decision issued here late Monday, rejected those arguments. The sentence properly reflected the will of Congress, the court said, and was not cruel or unusual punishment. Mr. Angelos was reported by a witness to have been armed with a pistol during two of the drug sales - and requiring stiffer sentences in cases where drugs and violence are linked, the court said, is legitimate social policy.

"Although the district court concluded that Angelos's sentence was disproportionate to his crimes, we disagree," the court said. "In our view, the district court failed to accord proper deference to Congress's decision to severely punish criminals who repeatedly possess firearms in connection with drug-trafficking crimes, and erroneously downplayed the seriousness of Angelos's crimes."


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Holy crap. Pot will probably have been legal for decades by the time this guy gets out at the age of 77.

Then he could plea bargain and get away with murder.

as shown in the laws we pass, the laws we ENFORCE, and the laws we ignore.

Or are they still investigating? Is there still hope he'll have to pay for his crimes?

Although the firepower he carries can do a lot more damage than two pistols.

the quantities of the pills he had would qualify for "intent to distribute". he bought large quantities at a time, or forced his housekeeper to buy them for him.

Bit of an imbalance in the scales of justice.

I think we can all sleep better now that Mr. Angelos is behind bars. :sarcasm: Please refer to sarcasm thingy as I also comment that I am sure
race, economic status had nothing to do with this. Our drug policy feeds terrorists and domestic fascism.

our society is doing this.

Utterly insane policies.

I urge everyone to consider how such policies are made, by whom, and how they have the power to do so. And...

THROW DIEBOLD AND ES&S ELECTION THEFT MACHINES INTO 'BOSTON HARBOR' *NOW*!

Torture, class war from the top down, judicial system at the service of the rich, institutional racism and class discrimination... this is America.

As an aside, last Friday the new film "Hostel" sold out in NYC on the day of its release. Sold out! This is a horror film with some of the most horrendous images of torture put in a commercial film, this side of Passolini's "Salo." Anybody wonders why Abu Grahib happens? We love torture like we love football and barbecue! Man, I'm depressed today!

:rant:

he would have gotten 90 days. That is pretty harsh.

what about the guy then who raped the 10 year old and got SIX months only :mad:

stiff sentence because he he carried a gun.

He did not use the gun in connection to any crime. all he did was possess one. He sold pot he owned a gun fifty five years...........Ain't nothing wrong with this country's morals....

There is early release, but it is a different system; not the parole board seen in old movies.

which is 47 years before he is even eligble for early release which they can get if they serve with good behavior, sometime this is not even applicable in certain cases. Good behavior is done on a yearly basis and can not exceed earning 54 days dropped, per year, making it even less likely some can actually reduce their minimum by 15%.

He would have been better off to have just shot his wife in the head while she was sleeping and then dumped her in the trash, for this he would have got 6 years as a minimum and life as max. per this recent utah case.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,158747,00.html

Unintended consequence of such crap as this, is that drug dealers will probably just shoot cops, if they think they can get away, as it won't make their sentence much worse.

He will do 85% of his time. So only 49 years.

Hmmm, at about $30,000 a year to imprison him, taxpayers will cough up $1.5 million to keep us safe from this pot dealer.



on edit: corrected for bad math

BushAmerican style.

So much for "The World's Greatest Democracy."

Less than a pound, a little more than a QP. I'm estimating a price of $200 an oz.

There are people caught with more expensive loads of cocaine that get less time than this. A kilo of cocaine is worth a lot more than a pound of weed, after all.

There's a statement about the use of firearms-perhaps there is more to this story than the article covers?

As I recall, use of a firearm adds an automatic 5 years to the sentence no matter the quantity of drugs. After that, there is a formula in the Federal Sentencing Guidelines.

Sentences like this are just barbaric.

it just goes to show you that the 10th circuit is retarded.
or perhaps I should have said, criminally negligent of their constitutional duties to their follow Americans.

that 'reefer madness' musical one time too many

Doesn't everyone know that every time a bong is used, 7 innocent children die?

One pound of marijuana supports over 1,000 terrorists, providing them with food, clothing, shelter, training, transportation and medical care. Two pounds of marijuana allowed bin Laden to escape our searches for him.

The terrorist organization al qaeda has the largest marijuana operation in the world. It operates 420 cells on every college campus (except the Christian ones like Bob Jones).

Smoking one marijuana cigarette will induce most people to acts of terrorism. Remember when the FBI found the 9/11 hijacker's flight manuals and Korans? They also found several dug-outs, pipes, and bongs. All of them tested positive for a strain of marijuana called "AK-47". The FBI thinks that if they'd had access to "White Widow" we would have seen far more deaths.

At the Pentagon they recovered two chillums in the wreckage, indicating that the pilot and co-pilot were smoking pot right up to the moment of impact. The FBI believes it helped the otherwise ill-trained Hani Hanjour perform a 270° descending turn with a 757, something that even skilled, sober pilots would find challenging.

And Saddam had rolling papers and a roach clip on him when he was busted.

:eyes:

This is why burglars never carry a weapon.

for the law. They'll kill said burglar by setting him up.

Our drugs laws are a fucking joke. Money buys justice and politicians.

I'm just saying crimes where the perp is armed carry higher penalties, I could give a shit about paranoid ravings.

while carrying gun....the penalty is higher? Get Real!


ouch!!

The other poster seems to be citing laws involving the commission of felonies where firearms were also present, ie: theft, robbery, selling drugs, etc.

Though I wonder about gun running. ;-)

picky than I can depict in attitudes, eh?

...if you sell even small amounts do not have a firearm anywhere in your house or car. You just added 10 years and a felony strike if you get nailed.

"Although the district court concluded that Angelos's sentence was disproportionate to his crimes, we disagree," the court said. "In our view, the district court failed to accord proper deference to Congress's decision to severely punish criminals who repeatedly possess firearms in connection with drug-trafficking crimes, and erroneously downplayed the seriousness of Angelos's crimes."

Mr. Angelos's lawyer, Jerome H. Mooney, said the decision would be appealed, either for reconsideration by the full Court of Appeals here in Denver or directly to the United States Supreme Court.

5 years for the first, 25 years for the second. That's what did it. Not that I agree with the whole thing, but it wasn't all the pot. And I think people intended a second offense be after you go to jail and get out and commit another one. Not the first time you ever get arrested, even if it's for 3 crimes. This is all so stupid.

That added another 25, so the 55 mandatory minimum is actually for the guns, his maximum is 63, which is the 8 years for the crimes he actually committed.

And killing, killing, killing.

A lot of America's laws are complete nonsense. But since also a lot of Americans have their heads buried in the sand, no changes will be forced. And until then, the Nazis will continue marching people into jails.

The results of this are far far worse than what they are supposedly accomplishing. This person's family, friends, and people who know, will hold this country in contempt. And absolutely nothing has been accomplished. Plus, the burden to pay for his life, without a job, behind bars, will only drag us down, and help pay the jail contractors.

America is going in the wrong direction. What will it take to stop it?

is the Punishist Posse masturbating en masse.

They'll be posting in this thread in 10 minutes or so.

55 years for some hundred dollars in pot. Sorry, but I can't belive this BS... Something is deeply wrong inside this system.

:wtf:

are as backwards and puritanical as those in those "Islamofascist" countries the RWers always make such a fuss over.

The far right in this country has much more in common with the mullahs in Iran than they would care to admit.

If he thought the sentence was too stiff, couldn't he have suspended it?

It would depend how the legislation was written, but usually it very strictly curtails the ability to suspend a sentence.

This is bullshit!

extreme rulings coming down fromt the courts.

55 yrs for selling pot, when car thieves in wa state get 2weeks average, in jail time after 10 car thefts.

Where are our priorities.

I suppose I should be happy they haven't invoked a chop chop square yet, for the good and protection, of the republican people.

It's early and they havent gained the supreme court yet, but they will.

I'm sick of seeing kids orphaned due to our insane drug laws.

That is really excessive.

He was originally only charged with one count of selling pot while armed, but when he refused a plea bargain, prosecutors went back to the grand jury and re-indicted him on additional counts.

"Ya want a jury trial? Here's another 50 years to think about it."

The trial judge complained the sentence was unjust, but his hands were tied. More than 150 former federal prosecutors and judges and four former attorney generals signed an amicus brief calling the sentence an affront to decency, as well as being unconstitutionally cruel and unusual.

I guess decency hasn't made it inside the front door of the federal courthouse in Denver.

I hope there is a special place in hell for these prosecutors and judges. Just reading shit like this makes me want to put them there in a real hurry.

Dont worry I can count high. (pun)

Pickles get away with selling pot though.

He called the sentence "unjust" himself. But when the law says you must sentence him to 55 years, there's not much the judge can do.

There are some jerks, though:

1. Congress, for passing this insane law in the first place.
2. Federal prosecutors in Salt Lake, who originally indicted Angelos on one count, then went back and reindicted him on more counts when he insisted on a jury trial.
3. The 10th Circuit Court of Appeals panel, who didn't see anything wrong with the sentence.

he should have been selling coke! :sarcasm:

Jenn

I'm not a huge legalization advocate, infact, I downright hate marijuana, but you cannot possibly impose a 55 year sentence on a man who sold a few bags of pot! If I were him, I'd just keep appealing, and I'd do my best to find the best lawyer I could.

be free and living high.