Nonviolent marijuana offenders need clemency from President Trump. It would leave a legacy of mercy and compassion.
President Trump has supported legislation that has reduced the federal prison population by around 40,000.
Unfortunately Clemency Project 2014 only granted clemency to 11 nonviolent marijuana only offenders.
We believe in the current climate of legalization, this category cries out for sentencing relief and President Trump's process is compatible with granting them clemency.
Billy Dekle was incarcerated for 26 years for a nonviolent marijuana offence. These are his reflections about the cannabis industry and the criminal justice system,
Billy Dekle
Lake City, FL. 32055
Dear Sir,
I am a nonviolent marijuana offender who was sentenced
to life without parole in the l1th Circuit, Northern District of Florida. After
serving 25 years in federal prison, I was granted clemency by President Obama in 2015.
These
are my reflections about this sentence and the billion-dollar growth of Cannabis business enterprises. I am writing this in support of sentencing relief for nonviolent marijuana offenders who have been sentenced to life without parole
and other egregious sentences for marijuana.
I am standing in the lobby of a legal dispensary in Colorado thinking is this for real. The odor of what certainly smells like a nice crop of marijuana is filling my nostrils. A young woman in her early thirties asks for my driver's license to verify that I am indeed 21 years old. Formality I am sure as she can tell I am certainly over the age of 60. She proceeds to inquire about the product I am interested in - Sativa or Indica?
She then begins to school me on the types and benefits of the herb. I let her proceed for a few minutes telling me how it has been used for centuries as a natural cure for a variety of ailments.
I stopped her, smiled and said I was in the pot business for many years back in the 70's until the government put me out of business. She looked at me inquisitively. I explain that President Obama gave me Executive Clemency three years ago. I had been serving two life sentences without release, plus eight thirty-year sentences (a slow death sentence). All this for the importation of what she was currently selling legally. In all I have served probably 30 years in prison for marijuana violations well over this young lady's lifetime.
She was astonished as most people are that I tell my story to. They all ask me the same question, "How is that possible?" After telling me I am her hero I end up getting a free t-shirt for what she called being
"one
of the founding fathers of the industry".
There is no one happier than me that society’s views on the marijuana industry have changed. It is now considered a respectable business
My
question now is how it is possible that there are still people in prison for
the same exact thing. Many of those are nonviolent offender who are elderly and have done
decades in prison.
I also do not understand why an industry that is making billions on a product, legal in many states, are not advocating for marijuana laws to be changed including the laws still holding those in prison. Laws were broken and justice was served but sentences for life and decades in prison. are ridiculous for a product that is and has been beneficial to so many. It should be revisited by our government and citizens that make up our country.
I do not understand why people with influence do not take up the banner for changes in our country. There are many celebrities that have enjoyed marijuana for decades who turn their heads at the atrocities of the draconian marijuana laws. How can the cannabis businesses also turn their heads and not speak out against an obvious wrong? Everyone should be soliciting help from congressmen, lobbyist, advocacy groups, etc. We all have a voice and should use it, or we too are turning our heads on the plight of these individuals.
Sincerely,
William
"Billy" Dekle
Lake City, FL
Billy
grew up on a farm in Northern Florida. As a child he dreamed of being a cowboy.
This
fantasy evaporated when he was in high school and discovered the thrill of
flying. It was his
love then and after twenty plus years behind bars he still dreams of it.
Florida
in the 70s was a mecca for the pot smuggling cowboys. It was common and many
boys
with a sense of adventure living in this hard scrabble area tried their hand at
it. Billy was no
exception. His plane did not carry tons, but it was
sufficient to pass the bar.
When
Billy was arrested in 1990 on a federal indictment he had several state
offenses, but the
law had changed and this was a much more serious situation. Because of the
magnitude of the
charging, Billy went to trial and received the sentence that is common to
nonviolent marijuana
offenders
who are charged with conspiracy and go to trial- life without parole.
While
Billy was incarcerated he worked regularly and diligently for UNICOR - The Prison
Industry. He did exceptional work as a production clerk and was an asset to the
Business Office.
His evaluations used phrases like: Preforms in an outstanding manner, Very
knowledgeable and
through in his work, He expedites all assignments and Outstanding job.
Billy
was never a threat to society and had a loving family waiting for his release
after all those
years.
Larry Duke was incarcerated for 23 years for a nonviolent marijuana offence. These are his reflections about the cannabis industry and the criminal justice system.
Larry Duke
Kennesaw, GA. 30152
Dear
Sir,
I want
to support clemency for nonviolent marijuana offenders who
are serving egregious sentences. These are
my thoughts about why in the current culture; this is a sentence that does not
fit the crime. In 2015 I received Compassionate Release in the 11th
Circuit, ND of Florida. I was serving a
life sentence as a nonviolent marijuana offender.
With
legalities aside, I applaud Wall Street's recent recognition and promotion of
the cannabis
industry as a boom market to potential investors. A new business concept which
isn't all that
different from the mass market potential we first recognized fifty years ago.
Since
1968 when I first began to dabble in the supply side of the business, the
market side
demand for marijuana in the United States has steadily grown.
Only
now, us old industry pioneers aren't allowed to participate any longer,
especially those of
us unfortunate enough to have been incarcerated for marijuana offenses.
In June
of 1980, I was arrested by the DEA task force in Tenants Harbor, Maine and
charged
with Conspiracy to Import with intent to distribute 18.7 tons of marijuana. After
paying a fifteen
thousand dollar fine and serving 40 months on a 60 month sentence, I was released from federal
prison.
In
December 1989, I was arrested in Woodstock, Georgia on a Reverse Sting
Operation, and
charged with two counts. Conspiracy to Possess with Intent to Distribute over
1000 kilograms of
marijuana, and attempt to possess with intent to distribute over 1000 kilograms of marijuana.
In 1991, I received a sentence of Life without the Possibility of Parole
on each of the two counts.
In March of2015, I received a Reduction in Sentence motion from the court
ordering Immediate
Release. I had served 25 years and 4 months.
Coming
home after a quarter of a century behind bars, was akin to landing on Mars. In
my long
absence everything and everyone had changed dramatically, especially the laws
and our society's
attitudes regarding marijuana. I was astonished to say the least, but when the
former Speaker of
the House of the United States Congress came out publicly promoting
investment in the
Cannabis Industry that was the straw that broke the camel's back!
With the
same federal conspiracy laws still in effect and on the books that I was
convicted of
violating in 1989, how can this new public open source conspiracy approach to
promoting and
selling marijuana not be against the law?
Not only
has this new Wall Street approach been deemed legal, but there are still
hundreds of us
Pot Pioneers sitting in federal and state prisons with Life Sentences. Go
figure!
I find
it appalling. If federal and state prosecutors are not going to file conspiracy
charges against
these modem day Wall Street marijuana entrepreneurs, then at least be honest
and bold enough
to order the release of all the pot people still wasting away in our nation's
prisons and jails.
This new
double negative business standard for the marijuana industry is compelling.
States and
cities where the legal use of recreational marijuana has been approved and
passed into law,
former marijuana conviction have been expunged.
Oddly
enough, "IF" the federal government were to enact similar legislation
to expunge former
marijuana convictions, I would have no criminal record at all.
But
while Congress continues to drag their collective feet on this issue, thousands
of otherwise
innocent American citizens remain incarcerated on marijuana related charges.
Yours,
Larry
Duke
Kennesaw,
GA
Larry
grew up in Georgia and when he left high school he joined the United States
Marine Corps
in Atlanta three weeks after President Kennedy was assassinated. This was on
his 17th birthday.
Larry is a decorated Viet Nam Combat Veteran. He served with Delta Company 1st
Battalion
Marine Regiment which saw
combat in 1965-1966. He was discharged on Jan 28, 1968. His
assigned USMC Service # is 2085279.
Larry
worked for Unicorr and uses his time productively. He is a positive influence
on others.
He used his leisure time well reading researching and exercising etc. Larry probably was the
only Federal Inmate to hold a US patent and while incarcerated worked on
another engineering
project producing a prototype for high speed ground travel. He has been working
on this project
since his release and has recently received a patent.
Prior to
his incarceration, Larry worked in the construction business for contractors in
Georgia
and Florida.
In 2015
Larry received a rare compassionate release as an elderly inmate even though he
was not
disabled.
Larry
has a large extended family that supported him throughout his incarceration and
he
returned to Georgia to live with his wife.
