Search Results: life sentence (146)


As far as late Christmas presents go, Missouri Governor Jay Nixon’s decision to pardon nine non-violent offenders is as big and unprecedented as they come.
But for a governor who before Monday pardoned only one person since taking office in 2009, the list of formerly-naughty Missourians is arguably more notable for the name it doesn’t include.
While the eight men and one women Nixon pardoned yesterday already served their sentences for felony and misdemeanor crimes ranging from minor theft, writing bad checks and marijuana possession, there’s no mention of Jeff Mizanskey, the only inmate in the state currently serving a life sentence without parole for three nonviolent pot charges.
Our buds over at the Riverfront Times have the full story.

Back in October, our colleagues at the Broward-Palm Beach New Times published a feature on people doing hard time for marijuana. One of the men profiled in the piece, Richard DeLisi, was sentenced in 1989 to 90 years for marijuana-related crimes, including trafficking and conspiracy to traffic.
Aging and in declining health, the 65-year-old DeLisi’s fate is in the hands of a court hearing that will decide if he will have one of his felony conspiracy charges reduced to a second-degree misdemeanor. Last week, Judge Michael Raiden of the Polk County Courthouse began a 30 day deliberation over a motion filed by DeLisi’s attorney, despite the state’s objections.


Marijuana has unfortunately become a life sentence to too many Americans, who are now rotting away in jail over a plant. Among those are the DeLisi brothers, arrested in 1980 after creating one of the largest marijuana smuggling operations in the country. Our colleagues at the Broward-Palm Beach New Times take a look at the DeLisis as well as numerous other Americans locked up for life for ganja in their cover story this week:
“Reformers say the long sentences handed out to relatively harmless pot dealers during the War on Drugs should be revisited. In the 1980s, when crack cocaine ravaged the nation, lawmakers introduced mandatory minimum sentences for drug offenses, and tough prosecutors tacked on conspiracy charges that could add decades of prison time. Now, however, 23 states plus Washington, D.C., have legalized medical marijuana, and polls indicate that 80 percent of Floridians will follow suit by voting for a constitutional amendment in the November 4 election. Why are taxpayers still footing the multimillion-dollar bill to incarcerate guys peddling a substance we’ve come to think of as medicine?”
Do yourself a favor and head over to the New Times for the whole story.

Call Gov. Jay Nixon at 1-573-751-3222 and tell him to free Jeff Mizanskey.


Governor Jay Nixon is the only person in the world who has the authority to release Jeff Mizanskey from prison. And activists want to make sure he’s reminded of that every time he leaves his house.
The marijuana reform group Show-Me Cannabis recently purchased billboard space less than two miles away from the governor’s mansion. The billboard urges people to call Nixon directly and ask for the release of Mizanskey, who is 21 years into a life-without-parole sentence for marijuana-only charges.


The Democratic candidate challenging Vicky Hartzler for her seat in the U.S. Congress is calling on Governor Jay Nixon to grant clemency to Jeff Mizanskey, the man serving a life sentence for non-violent marijuana offenses.
Nate Irvin, 25, kicked off his support with a press conference Monday on the capitol lawn, where Mizanskey’s brother Mike gave an emotional plea. Mizanskey, whose story is detailed in a Riverfront Times cover story, has been in jail for 21 years and has no possibility of parole. After learning about Mizanskey’s plight from Aaron Malin, the director of research for Show-Me Cannabis, Irvin said he wanted to use his race for Congress to shed light on Mizanskey’s sentence, which he calls “excessive to the point of absurdity.”


Jeff Mizanskey wants you to write the governor.
The only person in Missouri serving a life without parole sentence for nonviolent, marijuana-only charges, Mizanskey says he is overwhelmed by all the attention his case has received over the past year, which included nationwide coverage and a Change.org petition with nearly 500,000 signatures asking Governor Jay Nixon to give clemency to the 61-year-old prisoner.


Two Florida men could be facing a life sentence in Oklahoma for attempting to transport Colorado-and California-made cannabis, hash, edibles and other concentrated forms of herb worth about $250,000.
According to the Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics, Robert Shepard and Andrew Mason were stopped last week outside of Oklahoma City for following another vehicle too closely. That’s a common charge in states neighboring Colorado, where troopers have been profiling certain cars with green-and-white license plates and pulling them over for minor infractions. Narcotics agents say the Florida men were acting nervous during the stop, which prompted agents to call out a drug dog, Xena. (BAD DOG!)


Governor Jay Nixon came to St. Louis on Friday for a ceremony celebrating the building of a dental school. And after the event, he finally addressed the topic of granting clemency to Jeff Mizanskey, the man who has been in prison for more than twenty years, serving a life without parole sentence for marijuana charges.
Well, maybe “addressed” is being a bit generous.

Free Jeff Mizanskey.


Efforts to release Jeff Mizanskey, the only man in Missouri serving a life without parole sentence for a nonviolent marijuana charge, are continuing this month with help from Show-Me Cannabis and Change.org.
Show-Me Cannabis has bought billboard space on I-70 near Kansas City (and near Sedalia, where Mizanskey was arrested). The billboard features a photo of Mizanskey and says: “Life without parole for a non-violent pot crime? It’s time we fix our unjust cannabis laws.”
The Riverfront Times has the full story on this heinous injustice.

Phil Konstantin
San Ysidro Border Crossing By Phil Konstantin


As the busiest land border crossing in the world, the U.S./Mexico border checkpoint at San Ysidro in California has seen its fair share of smuggling attempts. But to this day, the stop and seizure of a van stuffed with four tons of marijuana back in 2002 remains as one of the largest weed busts on record at the bustling international checkpoint.
The discovery was made as the van was just a few car lengths away from a successful border crossing, in the lane of a seasoned Border Protection inspector by the name of Lorne “Hammer” Jones. Long respected among his peers as the last line of defense on our nation’s southern border, Lorne Jones, it turns out, had spent over a decade working in cahoots with powerful Mexican drug cartels, repeatedly waving through vehicles he knew to be loaded with illegal drugs, or illegal aliens.

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