{"id":52723,"date":"2020-12-11T17:00:18","date_gmt":"2020-12-11T17:00:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/merryjane.com\/inmate-serving-90-year-sentence-for-weed-trafficking-finally-gets-out-after-31-years\/"},"modified":"2020-12-11T17:00:18","modified_gmt":"2020-12-11T17:00:18","slug":"inmate-serving-90-year-sentence-for-weed-trafficking-finally-gets-out-after-31-years","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/merryjane.com\/news\/inmate-serving-90-year-sentence-for-weed-trafficking-finally-gets-out-after-31-years\/","title":{"rendered":"Inmate Serving 90 Year Sentence for Weed Trafficking Finally Gets Out After 31 Years"},"content":{"rendered":"

Image<\/em> via<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

America’s longest-serving cannabis offender<\/u><\/a> has finally walked free from prison for the first time in 31 years. <\/p>\n

71-year-old Richard DeLisi was released from a Florida prison this week<\/u><\/a> after serving three decades for conspiring to smuggle weed into the Sunshine State. In the late \u201880s, DeLisi and his brother Ted were caught in a reverse-sting operation<\/u><\/a> set up by local cops in conjunction with US customs and IRS officials. In this scheme, cops dreamed up a fake criminal conspiracy to smuggle large quantities of weed into Florida solely to entrap these two men.<\/p>\n

A government informant approached the brothers and convinced them to get involved in the bogus scheme. Once Richard agreed to take part, the cops busted the brothers and charged them both with participating in a conspiracy to traffic cannabis. Reverse-sting entrapment is actually illegal in many countries, but perfectly acceptable in Florida and the US at large. This tactic allowed cops to arrest both brothers simply because one agreed to commit a crime \u2014 even though neither of them actually physically smuggled weed at all.<\/p>\n

In 1989, the brothers were tried under RICO conspiracy charges and found guilty. And although the standard federal prison sentence for marijuana trafficking is only 12 to 17 years, the conspiracy charges allowed the judge to up Richard’s sentence to 98 years in prison. Ted DeLisi was assigned a similar sentence, but was able to have his conviction overturned in 2013 and was eventually set free.<\/p>\n

While imprisoned, Richard DeLisi’s wife, parents, and 23-year-old son all passed away, and his daughter was in a terrible car accident that left her paralyzed. His remaining family members fought to get him free from jail, spending over $250,000<\/u><\/a> on legal fees and $80,000 on collect calls. Finally, at the insistence of the Last Prisoner Project<\/u><\/a> and several pro-bono attorneys, the Florida Department of Corrections agreed to release DeLisi last month.<\/p>\n