Allen Russel, a 38-year-old Black man, will still serve a life sentence for possession of marijuana after a Mississippi Appeals Court upheld his sentence.
Under Mississippi state law, the possession of 1.05 to 8.8 ounces of marijuana can hold a sentence of up to three years, a $3,000 fine, or both, according to the Associated Press.
Russell was reportedly in possession of five bags of marijuana when he was arrested in 2017, and two of the five bags contained 1.5 ounces.
Russell’s life sentence was upheld by the state appeals court because of his status as a “habitual offender.”
Mississippi law permits a life sentence for habitual offenders if the offender served a year in prison for two individual felonies and if one of the felonies was a violent offense.
Read more at The Hill.
{Matzav.com}
Watch! The BLM, and all other Bleeding Liver Miscreants will clamor that the life sentence is only due to the offender’s skin color, skipping over his habitual offender status, and his history of violent crime.
sorry, the American penal system is awful.
Sending somebody to prison for life for the possession of marijuana is a crime
yes i read he had at least one prior offense that was violent. but that is irrelevant the case at hand
Marijuana is a gateway drug. He deserves more
You mean it isn’t?
So he didn’t get the life sentence for a mere 1.5 ounces, but because of the previous 2 felonies, one of which a violent offense. A violent felony is the key word here! Yes, the so called “war on drugs” is really a war on our constitutional rights, while doing nothing to the narcotics availability, and therefore should be slowly dismantled, but this particular guy is not just a hippie drug pusher, but a violent criminal, who should be kept away from the society due to his violent criminality. Putting away the career street-thugs, or the street-terrorists, is the only way to stop the American streets from descending into a third world hole.
Lock ’em up!