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View Full Version : Man got 55 years for dealing $350 of pot to police informant




itshappening
04-11-2013, 09:41 PM
There is so much wrong with this case i dont know where to begin. From PIG informants to a 55 YEAR Federal mandatory minimum sentence:

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The Weldon Angelos case was a case involving mandatory minimum sentences presented to the United States Supreme Court. The United States Supreme Court declined to hear the case.

Background

Weldon Angelos, the son of a Greek immigrant and founder of a rap record company, was accused of selling marijuana to a police informant on several occasions worth a total of $350; the witness stated that Angelos had a firearm strapped to his body, but no photographs or evidence existed other than his testimony and Angelos never used or brandished his gun.

However, section 924(c) of the federal code provides for mandatory sentences for dealers who carry firearms during their drug transactions; meaning Angelos, who had no prior criminal record, was sentenced in November 2004 to a minimum of 55 years to 63 years in prison.

Trial and conviction

The judge in the case, Paul Cassell (of the U.S. Court for the District of Utah) sentenced Angelos to 55 years, but said he had no choice but to do so and urged President Bush to commute the sentence, calling it "unjust, cruel, and irrational", noting the sentence is much more than the minimum for hijacking, kidnapping, or rape. On appeal the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit upheld the sentence. The U.S Supreme Court declined to hear the case. In spite of the fact the Supreme Court ruled in United States v. Booker that the federal sentencing guidelines are not mandatory but advisory only, they did not rule that mandatory minimums in the federal code (separate from the guidelines) are themselves unconstitutional, and in this case the facts of the case (Angelos carrying a firearm) were proven before a jury.

Weldon Angelos has a projected release date of 18 November 2051. There is no parole in the federal prison system.

On 29 April 2009, a federal judge denied a request by Angelos for a new trial by rejecting a claim that his trial attorney mishandled plea negotiations with the federal prosecutor, U.S. District Judge Tena Campbell ruled that attorney Jerome Mooney had provided Angelos with "competent and thorough" legal help.[6] This is likely one of the last appeals Angelos can launch, thus making it increasingly likely his sentence is final.

Justification

In a radio program the prosecutor Robert Lund justified his decision to charge Angelos with a felony carrying a minimum sentence of 55 years for his first marijuana offense on the following grounds:

Weldon Angelos was suspected of gang involvement.
Weldon Angelos had purchased a Lexus car for $30,000.
Weldon Angelos had not accepted a 15 year plea bargain.
Weldon Angelos' girlfriend's house held a duffel bag with 'cannabis shakings.', and the duffel bag would be large enough for two people to crawl into.

924(c) stacking

The case is an example of what is technically known as 924(c) stacking. In many such cases the jury decides a gun may have been present beyond an acceptable probability of reasonable doubt appropriate for a commensurate sentence, rather than a sentence commensurate with a violent crime. For example in the Prikakis case, Prikakis like Angelos was induced by a paid informant to make three drug sales, it was asserted that a gun was present, this was denied by Prikakis, and the jury decided a gun was present beyond reasonable doubt. It is known in that case that the judge's instructions to the jury did not apprise them to use a standard of reasonable doubt appropriate for a stacked sentence. The judge Vinson later wrote that the jury would have been shocked to learn of the stacked sentence: "I think they would rise up in indignation, as anybody else would, if they know about how this law is being applied and construed in circumstances such as this, which is essentially one underlying offense.” Judge Vinson also noted that in such cases the prosecutor can choose the length of the sentence by choosing what number of controlled buys to solicit prior to the arrest of the defendant. Articles also note that prosecutors can solicit controlled buys from an essentially innocent defendant known to carry a gun, thereby inducing a previously innocent person to commit transactions leading to life imprisonment. Proponents argue that 924(c) stacking effectively punishes recidivist offenders and removes them from society. On the other hand, J. Shulhofer wrote that although 924(c) stacking was intended to be applied to repeat offenders, in practise prosecutors actually apply it "on first offenders in borderline situations who may have plausible defenses and are more likely to insist upon trial."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weldon_Angelos_case
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Now check out the ever ignorant Bill O'Reilly the other night who was discussing drug sentences with Bob Beckel. The asshat never even raised the problem of Federal minimum sentences:

http://www.mediaite.com/tv/bill-oreilly-clashes-with-bob-beckel-over-drug-war-so-you-can-kill-my-kid-cause-youre-addicted/

jkr
04-11-2013, 09:49 PM
NOPE

MRK
04-11-2013, 09:57 PM
He sold an ounce lol

This is nearly as extreme as the death penalty the Spanish gave for selling tobacco plant seeds to anyone outside the empire.

Brian4Liberty
04-11-2013, 10:00 PM
Well, I feel much safer now.

itshappening
04-11-2013, 10:10 PM
Will the f**king president commute his sentence already?

Obama has issued the fewest commutations and pardons of any president in living memory. He's an absolute asshole!

MRK
04-11-2013, 10:13 PM
Will the f**king president commute his sentence already?

Obama has issued the fewest commutations and pardons of any president in living memory. He's an absolute asshole!

He'll bail out white collar criminals on his last day though, just watch. Slick Willie did the same thing.

aGameOfThrones
04-11-2013, 10:23 PM
In a radio program the prosecutor Robert Lund justified his decision to charge Angelos with a felony carrying a minimum sentence of 55 years for his first marijuana offense on the following grounds:

Weldon Angelos was suspected of gang involvement.
Weldon Angelos had purchased a Lexus car for $30,000.
Weldon Angelos had not accepted a 15 year plea bargain.
Weldon Angelos' girlfriend's house held a duffel bag with 'cannabis shakings.', and the duffel bag would be large enough for two people to crawl into.

We have a winner! Contempt of prosecutor.

Origanalist
04-11-2013, 10:29 PM
We have a winner! Contempt of prosecutor.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=1fuDDqU6n4o

Anti Federalist
04-11-2013, 10:29 PM
We have a winner! Contempt of prosecutor.

Bingo.

Was just coming in here to say the same thing.

"Pfffft. Jury trial? Where do you think you are Mundane?"

mczerone
04-11-2013, 10:42 PM
There is so much wrong with this case i dont know where to begin.

I do. Just like the Court - you begin at the end and then start to get back there.


The United States Supreme Court declined to hear the case.

When all options for redress within the association have been used, appeal to an independent arbiter is warranted. It's high time that we stop letting the court get so many things wrong, the prosecutors spend the defendants into acquiescence, and the King's appointees have final say in matter of a person's life.


Weldon Angelos, the son of a Greek immigrant and founder of a rap record company, was accused of selling marijuana to a police informant on several occasions worth a total of $350; the witness stated that Angelos had a firearm strapped to his body, but no photographs or evidence existed other than his testimony and Angelos never used or brandished his gun.

This man's business was taken out of the legal remedy system. If something were to go wrong, he has no recourse to the cops or courts - he is forced to carry a gun because some people do stupid shit over $70 (at a time) worth of pot.


The judge in the case, Paul Cassell (of the U.S. Court for the District of Utah) sentenced Angelos to 55 years, but said he had no choice but to do so and urged President Bush to commute the sentence, calling it "unjust, cruel, and irrational", noting the sentence is much more than the minimum for hijacking, kidnapping, or rape.

He had a choice to do the right thing in contradiction to the (wrong) statutory law and let the prosecution appeal. He didn't, so he's a horrible, petulant, liar.

He meant to say "I have no choice, if I want to keep my federal power elite status ranking."


On appeal the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit upheld the sentence.

Nuremburg called, they want their "just following orders" excuse back.


The U.S Supreme Court declined to hear the case.

"Meh, one drug dealer's life isn't that important, and we'd probably say that the Congress can trample whatever rights you think you have anyway, so lets hear a case about whether the widow-partner of a retired congressman gets an extra trip to Maui next year because they can get the Federal pension."


In spite of the fact the Supreme Court ruled in United States v. Booker that the federal sentencing guidelines are not mandatory but advisory only, they did not rule that mandatory minimums in the federal code (separate from the guidelines) are themselves unconstitutional, and in this case the facts of the case (Angelos carrying a firearm) were proven before a jury.


The facts were NOT proven before a jury. Facts are facts. Prosecutorial lies are fiction. The jury believed the prosecutor. They believed beyond a reasonable doubt that Angelos had a weapon that no one ever saw. It was not proven, mathematically or logically, that Angelos had a weapon on a chalkboard with the jury watching. I could prove the quadratic equation gives the roots of ax^2+bx+c=0 in such a way.


Weldon Angelos has a projected release date of 18 November 2051. There is no parole in the federal prison system.

Hey Obama - you ever buy or sell an eighth while you were out skeet shooting? You are as culpable as this prisoner - so why don't you let him out and invite him to a sequester-proof 8 course meal while Harold and Kumar tell you stories about how cool NPH is.



In a radio program the prosecutor Robert Lund justified his decision to charge Angelos with a felony carrying a minimum sentence of 55 years for his first marijuana offense on the following grounds:

Weldon Angelos was suspected of gang involvement.

You mean he dealt with known criminals as a drug dealer!?! If he was suspected of gang involvement, convict him for gang violence.



Weldon Angelos had purchased a Lexus car for $30,000.

"Don't you know your place, Weldon? You're supposed to buy a old beater, maybe an el Camino, and spend a little extra for making the rims fancy. Don't buy yourself no Lexus. If you had been a drug dealer who didn't try to have nice things and live a better life than the crap you're trying to escape, we'd have probably just let you be. After all, we can't let it be known that you can use/deal drugs and be a successful, peaceful member of society."


Weldon Angelos had not accepted a 15 year plea bargain.

"We're gonna INSULT you with an absurd plea bargain that you'd be insane to accept so that we can justify bringing a charge that's even more absurd. You piss in the street? You can either take it to trial or accept this offer for $5 million in damages and 10 years in federal prison. If you choose a trial and lose? well, from your point of view it's not much different than the plea bargain."


Weldon Angelos' girlfriend's house held a duffel bag with 'cannabis shakings.', and the duffel bag would be large enough for two people to crawl into.


So Angelos' girlfriend had a gym bag that once carried an eighth buried beneath a bunch of softball equipment?

Bob Lund is suspected to be involved with terrorists.
Bob Lund's car is worth more than mine.
Bob Lund would rather not take my plea deal for 40 years in Federal Prison on charges I just made up.
Bob Lund knew a guy who once had cocaine residue in his garage.

I think we should try to throw Bob Lund in Prison for the rest of his life on some "dealing crack while committing treason" charges.

TheTexan
04-11-2013, 10:47 PM
... Amerika...

mczerone
04-11-2013, 10:52 PM
... Amerika...

Instead of an enthusiastic "Fuck Yeah!", all I can muster is an exasperated "fuck" as I rest my forehead in my fingers.

Sorry for the profanity here. You should have seen what that last post looked like before I edited myself.

Origanalist
04-11-2013, 10:56 PM
Instead of an enthusiastic "Fuck Yeah!", all I can muster is an exasperated "fuck" as I rest my forehead in my fingers.

Sorry for the profanity here. You should have seen what that last post looked like before I edited myself.

It's hard to stay civil in times like this.

itshappening
04-11-2013, 11:00 PM
So what the hell are we going to do about this case? This must be the worst abuse of Federal minimums in the system.

http://www.famm.org/

I think they list it as one of their top cases.

Obama is an asshat if he doesn't commute this. It's indefensible. ACLU need to get on this case NOW.

itshappening
04-11-2013, 11:01 PM
His appeals are all exhausted by the way. His only hope is if the president commutes it.

So we must begin lobbying Congress and the Administration to do what needs to be done.

oyarde
04-12-2013, 12:08 AM
So what the hell are we going to do about this case? This must be the worst abuse of Federal minimums in the system.

http://www.famm.org/

I think they list it as one of their top cases.

Obama is an asshat if he doesn't commute this. It's indefensible. ACLU need to get on this case NOW.

Maybe , except for locking up Amish people 20 at a time for petty crime, it rates there as well ....

oyarde
04-12-2013, 12:11 AM
It's hard to stay civil in times like this.

It is no longer my intention to do so .I stay home, work ,stay home if the govt intervenes with me , with that, those souls are on very thin ice.

oyarde
04-12-2013, 12:16 AM
What I came here to say, was how many tax dollars were used by the Gestapo to pay said " informant" ? Off the backs and sweat of people busting ass to earn a living to have money stolen from them to give to " informants" , who are pd more .That is criminal. That is a crime so severe , I care not what the penalty is to be pd by those.

mrsat_98
04-12-2013, 04:34 AM
His appeals are all exhausted by the way. His only hope is if the president commutes it.

So we must begin lobbying Congress and the Administration to do what needs to be done.

Post Conviction Relief -- Drug Laws Unconstitutional -- http://iamnotananimal.org/pdfs/I_AM_NOT_AN_ANIMAL.pdf

I suggest we build a site where people can pick their state and pick the feds and it will create the documents to print and send to your legislature, supreme court members, governor, lt governor, the lt governor's successor and give them notice of the man or other animals argument and add a few charges to the list. Human Trafficking, Omitting to do there duty and being paid to participate in collude in and allow fraud under 18 USC 201, There is a grocery list of charges that could be added like accessories

Who do you serve ? Each branch of Government start at the top and go down till there is no procedure in place to replace them. i.e. Governor, Lt Governor, Head of State Police gets the entire Executive Branch and there is no procedure to recreate it.

Give them a reason to study continuity of government.

Wooden Indian
04-12-2013, 05:36 AM
People will petition the White House over the silly Brit's gun comments, but nothing over something like this? Seems worthy of a petition to me (for those that do them).

This needs more media attention.

::Turns on Swann Signal and awaits on roof top::

tod evans
04-12-2013, 05:51 AM
Here's the dude prior to his fucking;

10 years into his sentence those boys are now teens...

http://www.deseretnews.com/images/article/midres/700369415/700369415.jpg

HOLLYWOOD
04-12-2013, 06:09 AM
All to keep the Serfs in line! Remember, an educated juror with the capability of deductive, critical thinking, are banned from federal trials.
There is so much wrong with this case i dont know where to begin. From PIG informants to a 55 YEAR Federal mandatory minimum sentence:
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The Weldon Angelos case was a case involving mandatory minimum sentences presented to the United States Supreme Court. The United States Supreme Court declined to hear the case. It's called mandatory prison profit sentence. This is costing the taxpayers a minimum of $2 million dollars.


What I came here to say, was how many tax dollars were used by the Gestapo to pay said " informant" ? Off the backs and sweat of people busting ass to earn a living to have money stolen from them to give to " informants" , who are pd more .That is criminal. That is a crime so severe , I care not what the penalty is to be pd by those.Yes, what is the cost to taxpayers? Don't forget to include all those benefits for the government workers AND THEIR retirement packages costs down the road for decades.


He sold an ounce lol

This is nearly as extreme as the death penalty the Spanish gave for selling tobacco plant seeds to anyone outside the empire.

Eighth Amendment to the United States Constitution

The Eighth Amendment (Amendment VIII) to the United States Constitution is the part of the United States Bill of Rights (ratified 1789) prohibiting the federal government from imposing excessive bail, excessive fines or cruel and unusual punishments, including torture. The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that this amendment's Cruel and Unusual Punishment Clause applies to the states. The phrases employed originated in the English Bill of Rights of 1689

itshappening
04-12-2013, 06:23 AM
Yep, this is seriously cruel and unusual.

I'm staying on this case.

This is the worst abuse in the system. im sure there are more cases.

We need to raise this with senators who can raise it with the president.

And Human Rights Groups need to start worrying about it rather than worrying about some case in Africa.

This is Human rights abuse in America, so obvious and painful and yet they do nothing.

tod evans
04-12-2013, 06:43 AM
Little groups of people have been screaming about 924c sentencing since the 90's and government just plods along.

Media, letters and protesting don't work!

itshappening
04-12-2013, 06:57 AM
Little groups of people have been screaming about 924c sentencing since the 90's and government just plods along.

Media, letters and protesting don't work!

This case will crystallize it. We can hammer this for a while. Also his 10 year anniversary for being locked up is in 2014 so there's lots to do.

We need to pressure the ACLU to raise it with Eric 'Himmler' Holder and Members of Congress. His only hope is a commutation and if the administration ignore this then it will show their hypocrisy for all to see.

tod evans
04-12-2013, 07:04 AM
Honestly "all to see".......Everyone who actually cares about the federal sentencing guidelines is fully aware of what's been going on for decades.

Media isn't going to change their tune so Joe-n-Jane citizen aren't going to either.

I'm afraid that the only legal way to help this guy out is to put a few bucks into his commissary account.

itshappening
04-12-2013, 07:11 AM
Honestly "all to see".......Everyone who actually cares about the federal sentencing guidelines is fully aware of what's been going on for decades.

Media isn't going to change their tune so Joe-n-Jane citizen aren't going to either.

I'm afraid that the only legal way to help this guy out is to put a few bucks into his commissary account.

Not enough people care but they will with a personal story and an egregious abuse like this. They've really outdone themselves with this one.

kcchiefs6465
04-12-2013, 10:54 AM
And while we're at it, we should probably send out the letters for the man that got 25 years MMS for selling a few prescriptions and the man who got 24 years MMS for building a trap compartment in a car. Which I'd add, was more than his co-conspirators got. (and he did not know their specific activities)

Those are just two from the last few months or so. 'Cash for kids,' has already proven where these judge's loyalty lies. Considering what, 93% of federal prosecutions don't go to trial, I'd bet that at least 7% of all federal prosecutions are extreme miscarriages of justice. While Ollie North and his cocaine importing, terrorist funding, buddies get pardoned bipartisanly.

satchelmcqueen
04-12-2013, 02:57 PM
""1. Weldon Angelos was suspected of gang involvement.
2. Weldon Angelos had purchased a Lexus car for $30,000.
3. Weldon Angelos had not accepted a 15 year plea bargain.
4. Weldon Angelos' girlfriend's house held a duffel bag with 'cannabis shakings.', and the duffel bag would be large enough for two people to crawl into""

1. suspected?? and this is supposed to be evidence??
2.big shit! my jeep cost me the same.
3. and thats wrong?? one has the right to fight instead of giving in especially in light of no evidence.
4. again big fucking deal! i have massive suit cases that 2 people could fit inside.

enjerth
04-12-2013, 03:38 PM
...
4. Weldon Angelos' girlfriend's house held a duffel bag with 'cannabis shakings.', and the duffel bag would be large enough for two people to crawl into""
...
4. again big fucking deal! i have massive suit cases that 2 people could fit inside.

I was thinking that perhaps they left out the end of that sentence.... which was "with the 1 gram of shake stuffed into one of the inside pockets of the duffle."

I have a duffle that perhaps my 2 little girls could slip into. Perhaps baby brother has room, too.

I've never kept any shake in it, however. I swear.

Perhaps they were implying that he was also a coyote, with a dash of weed? And someone saw a handle tucked into his shirt and told cops it was a gun. Even a paid informant, perhaps.

itshappening
04-12-2013, 03:46 PM
Most. Egergious, Abuse. Ever.

We need to start pressuring senators, congress and the Obama loving ACLU.

Let's see what happens then!

Himmler Holder needs to respond.

Stay tuned. I'll figure out the pressure points in due course.

KrokHead
04-12-2013, 05:48 PM
Now, the real question is how fast it took the officers to smoke the $350 worth of weed.

torchbearer
04-12-2013, 05:48 PM
amber lamps