moondoggie
Junior Member
What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Missouri
I live in a 'zero tolerance' county in Missouri. Last year my son was convicted on a marijuana distribution charge. (he actually only had traces of marijuana mixed in with pocket lint, but he had $200.00 dollars he couldn't account for, and the police had found empty packaging in the trash behind his house that they said matched the traces in his pocket. He was charged with having distributed two pounds of marijuana). On a seperate instance, my son had been picked up with a joint in his pocket, and given a misdemeanor charge. Both cases were pending at the same time. The original offer from the prosecutor was a B felony, and a five year sentence. Getting probation on a B felony is apparently very rare here, but his attorney was able to make a deal where my son spent 6 months in county jail for the misdemeanor charge of having the joint, and received 5 years probation with a ten year back-up on the B felony. Unfortunately, he screwed up the probation by picking up another misdemeanor charge, so now they have revoked. I understand that the long sentence is because of the tradeoff for probation, but in the back of my mind something still seems unjust. (even if I ignore how unjust the drug laws themselves can be). What's bothering me, is a common sentence here for a major drug offense is also a B felony, and the average sentence is between 7 and 8 years. My son was sentenced on the same day as a young man who had guns, meth, mushrooms, opiates, marijuana, and many thousands of dollars, and he received the 8 year sentence. They will serve the same percentage of time. Even though my son had a shot at probation and screwed it up, does the original crime not count in determining the sentence? No matter how I look at this, if you add up all of my sons actual infractions, even a tough judge wouldn't have given him 10 years. Is it really common for people to serve an incredibly long sentence because they took probation, and lost it? Thanks
I live in a 'zero tolerance' county in Missouri. Last year my son was convicted on a marijuana distribution charge. (he actually only had traces of marijuana mixed in with pocket lint, but he had $200.00 dollars he couldn't account for, and the police had found empty packaging in the trash behind his house that they said matched the traces in his pocket. He was charged with having distributed two pounds of marijuana). On a seperate instance, my son had been picked up with a joint in his pocket, and given a misdemeanor charge. Both cases were pending at the same time. The original offer from the prosecutor was a B felony, and a five year sentence. Getting probation on a B felony is apparently very rare here, but his attorney was able to make a deal where my son spent 6 months in county jail for the misdemeanor charge of having the joint, and received 5 years probation with a ten year back-up on the B felony. Unfortunately, he screwed up the probation by picking up another misdemeanor charge, so now they have revoked. I understand that the long sentence is because of the tradeoff for probation, but in the back of my mind something still seems unjust. (even if I ignore how unjust the drug laws themselves can be). What's bothering me, is a common sentence here for a major drug offense is also a B felony, and the average sentence is between 7 and 8 years. My son was sentenced on the same day as a young man who had guns, meth, mushrooms, opiates, marijuana, and many thousands of dollars, and he received the 8 year sentence. They will serve the same percentage of time. Even though my son had a shot at probation and screwed it up, does the original crime not count in determining the sentence? No matter how I look at this, if you add up all of my sons actual infractions, even a tough judge wouldn't have given him 10 years. Is it really common for people to serve an incredibly long sentence because they took probation, and lost it? Thanks