Randy Lanier was indicted in 1987 for importing and distributing marijuana. After a three month trial in the state of Illinois, he was found guilty of 21 U.S.C. %uFFFD 848, running a CCE (Continuing Criminal Enterprise). This enterprise imported and distributed large amounts of marijuana throughout the United States. Should he have been punished for committing this crime? The answer is yes, without question. Yet the sentencing laws do not fit the crime, especially for a 1st time, non-violent offense.
Lanier is currently serving LWOP - Life Without Parole more commonly referred to as the pine box sentence since the person convicted is sentenced to natural death.
With this petition our aim is two-fold:
1) Put a stop to the draconian Minimum Mandatory Sentencing Laws in the US for marijuana smuggling. Life Without Parole (sometimes referred to as a %u201Cliving death%u201D or %u201Cpine box%u201D sentence, since the offender is strictly ineligible for release while alive) for marijuana smuggling is Draconian and needs to be reformed.
2) Free Randy T. Lanier and other like him that are incarcerated today for marijuana smuggling. Through the power granted to our President, he has the right to free those who have paid their debt to society and should be released NOW.
With Laniers' legal efforts exhausted, only the President of the United States and the Federal Board of Pardons can decide his fate. Lets send a message that you oppose the LWOP sentence Lanier is currently serving!
Dear President Obama,
"We the undersigned" urge you to grant freedom in the form of a Presidential Pardon to Randy Thomas Lanier. He was unjustly sentenced to LWOP, Life Without Parole under the CCE, Continuing Criminal Enterprise Minimum Mandatory sentencing laws in 1987. He needs to be relased to his fmaily. He is currently servicing his sentence at Coleman FCC in Coleman Florida. He is a mentor and teaches yoga at the Wellness Center. He has paid his debt to society and needs your Presidential Pardon.
