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Appeal of pot dealer's 55-year prison term to be heard Tuesday
Pamela Manson | Salt Lake Tribune | 11/14/2005

Weldon Angelos' supporters say he is a casualty in the War on Drugs, an offender who deserves time behind bars but not a virtual life sentence for carrying a firearm while dealing pot in Utah.

Prosecutors, though, insist the former music producer's mandatory 55-year term is appropriate. They paint Angelos as major dealer who hooked up with a violent street gang, carried a gun while conducting his illicit business and made his living peddling large quantities of drugs.

"Addressing the epidemic social problem of armed drug distribution with increased punishment and deterrence is consistent with contemporary standards of decency," U.S. Attorney for Utah Paul Warner and assistant U.S. attorney Robert Lund write in a court brief.

The question of whether Angelos' mandatory minimum prison term is constitutional or violates the Eighth Amendment's prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment will be argued Tuesday before the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver. The appeal of Angelos' conviction and sentence is being closely watched.

Dozens of former federal judges and prosecutors - including former Attorneys General Janet Reno, Benjamin Civiletti, Griffin Bell and Nicholas Katzenbach and former FBI director William Sessions - have signed a friend-of-the-court brief agreeing with Angelos that his sentence is unconstitutional.

"Irrational" Punishment?

The case that has caused such a furor began as a run-of-the-mill drug prosecution.

Angelos, now 26, the founder of Extravagant Records, was accused of selling marijuana to a police informant three times in May and June 2002, each time charging $350 for 8 ounces. At one sale, he had a gun strapped to his ankle, according to court records. At the other drug buys, there were firearms in the vicinity.

A federal grand jury originally indicted Angelos in November 2002 on one gun possession count, three counts of marijuana distribution and two lesser charges. After he rejected a plea bargain that would have sent him to prison for 16 years, prosecutors obtained a new indictment.

This one had 20 charges. When Angelos later asked to reopen negotiations, prosecutors said it was too late. In December 2003, a jury convicted him of 16 counts.

U.S. District Judge Paul Cassell reluctantly sentenced Angelos to a mandatory 55 years in prison, five years for the first gun-possession conviction and 25 years each for the next two, to be served one after the other. For 13 drug and money laundering counts, the judge imposed one additional day behind bars.

Cassell said federal minimum mandatory sentencing laws left him no choice but to mete out what he called an "unjust and cruel and even irrational" prison term. He then urged President Bush to commute the term to a more just punishment and called on Congress to modify the law so that 25-year multiple sentences apply only to "true recidivist drug offenders."

Serious Crime, Serious Time

The U.S. Attorney's Office contends that Angelos is the kind of offender Congress had in mind when it enacted tough mandatory sentences for criminals who carry a firearm while committing a felony.

Prosecutors say Angelos sold large quantities of drugs and kept guns in his Salt Lake City apartment while doing business. In addition, they claim, he has ties with a street gang.

"Unquestionably, Congress was also informed with statistical data related to the nature and prevalence of drug trafficking and gun violence in this country, and the enormous financial and sociological costs associated with the problem," their brief says.

Prosecutors also say the potential for time off for good behavior should be taken into consideration, pointing out that Angelos' sentence could be reduced to about 46 years.

But defense attorney Jerome Mooney says the punishment is grossly disproportionate to the offense and a mandatory sentence law "is only likely to deter juries from convicting drug offenders, fearful of the application of horrific sentences that shock their conscience."

The appeal also challenges the legality of the search of Angelos' apartment and the claim that he "brandished" a gun during drug sales or even had one with him during the transactions.

The only person who claims to have seen a firearm at two of the marijuana transactions was an informant who received a "complete pass" on his own armed drug sales in return for his help, Mooney says. The lawyers contend no mention was made in initial police reports of a gun.

The government responds that the informant saw a 10 mm Glock pistol lodged between the seat and center console of Angelos' BMW during the first sale and the music producer lifted his pant leg to show the same gun in an ankle holster during the second sale.

"Displaying a firearm in that regard clearly constitutes use and brandishing," the prosecutors' brief says.

Angelos' relatives were shocked when the long sentence was handed down. They now are hoping for a reversal and Weldon Angelos' release from a federal prison in Southern California.

Sister Lisa Angelos said the wait is the hardest part. "This has totally devastated the family," she said.

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reggie_the_dog

this may seem extreme to some of you but if you are 25 and you are going to stay in jail 55 years you will be 80 when you get out. WHY NOT JUST SHOOT THE POLICE TRYING TO ARREST YOU???? Hell, murder of cops will either get you life in jail or the death penalty, but if you are going to get 55 years anyway you may as well shoot the guy trying to bust you in his face and run like hell.

teufelfisch

You know, this was a major problem in several cities once. They made mandatory minimums at first, but then relaxed the laws very quickly, because all the police officers were getting killed by non-violent offenders.

However, it sounds like this guy is into some stuff that's way heavier than pot. The article made it sound like he has ties to a gang and deals hard drugs too, which makes the case much more complicated. It's one thing to convict your neighborhood pot dealer for life, and it's another to convict a drug-dealing, gun-weilding, music industry executive - slash gang member for life. I wonder what will be stirred up?

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PotShot

There is still the undeniable point that without prohibition the cannabis market would be legal and lawfull, and any dispute could be handled within the confines of law which would negate the necessity of carrying a gun in order to protect your business' interest. Not that I generally like people toting guns about, its just that it is not cannbis' fault, its the prohibition of cannabis' fault.

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MJBlessMe

I imagine at one time there was a gulf between regular people and drug users (including marijuana users). Now so many people use marijuana that the gulf has been shifted so that it now separates marijuana users and hard drug users.

The question is, will harder drugs become the next marijuana? Is this an issue of the camel's nose under the tent (i.e. will the whole camel be in the tent the next time you look?) This question is very important when considering the legal status of marijuana and other drugs.

I tend to think that people won't move on to harder drugs. Rather, people have discovered marijuana as a less harmful alternative to alcohol. Many realize that marijuana is less harmful than everyone thought, certainly less harmful than alcohol and tobacco.

Why is it illegal then? I can't help feeling that reform is just around the corner. More people are becoming aware of the issues. Public outcry is needed. Stop prosecuting people who aren't harming others.

I believe that carrying a gun with the intention of using it on other human beings should the need arise is wrong but I am saddened by the fact that he felt he needed to carry a weapon. It's a bad situation, especially if this fellow truly was involved with hard drugs.

 

killer12382

This is insane. How can they give some guy 55 years in jail when there are killers out there that get less than 20? I expect something like that in a third world country or in Asia but not in the US. (well maybe in the south).

Tokamak

Angelos, now 26, the founder of Extravagant Records, was accused of selling marijuana to a police informant three times in May and June 2002, each time charging $350 for 8 ounces.

Either that's the best price I've ever seen, or that guy was selling some serious ditch-weed...

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bigal09110

You think that’s insane. I live in southern Utah and they have laws I feel are unconstitutional. You could be smoking marijuana in your house and that is a class B misdemeanor which consists of 6 months in jail and 1,000 in fines, those are the max. Now a little background this is the state of the Mormon (LDS) religion where there is a church on ever block. In this state if you are within 1,000 feet of any school, school activity, public building, amusement park, public packing spot, church of any kind, preschool, or just about anything of that nature your offense goes up a degree, I saw the map of the town I live in and there is no single spot were you aren’t within 1,000 ft of one of these. This apply to possession of paraphernalia which up grades it from a class b misdemeanor to a class A, which is a max of 1 year in prison and 10,0004 fine. Are you ready for the kicker. Some one got pulled over for a DUI and led the police to believe that I was a high scale drug dealer, so the police with his signed statement got a no knock search warrant at 2:25 am. At 3 am our doors were kicked in and I was arrested with over an ounce of marijuana that they said I had intent to distribute. At first I was charged with a 1st degree felony which is 5 to a maximum of life in jail. Possession with intent to distribute is a 3rd degree felony which is 0 to 5 years in jail. But I was within 1,000 feet of some preschool and a church which upgraded it to a 1st degree felony. After spending 5 days in jail before my bail was even announced, I learned that you can only enhance it one so I am stuck looking at 2nd degree felon which is 1 to 15 years in jail. So in short I am not gun toting drug dealer, I have no gang affiliations, I am a B sometime a college student. I have won national and international engineering competitions, and now I am portrayed as scum. If you took the time to interview my teacher they will all say the same thing I am an upstanding student, and hopefully a good student. But no I am looking at a minimum 1 year in jail and maximum of 16 years in jail with almost 20,000 in possible fines. This shoe doesn’t fit, but I am forced to be wearing it. What really bothers me is that this DUI criminal informant got out of a DUI. He also had under and ounce of marijuana on him, with a digital scale all while driving drunk. This person got off of all his charges for leading them to this so called “large scale” drug dealer. On another note the prosecutor in this state love getting the maximum for drug offenders, not just dealers. While I was in prison for 5 days 85% of the people there were for simple drug use/possession. One kid age 18 with 2 kids was in front of the judge before me, and the prosecutor was asking for the max of 2 years for 1 count of poss. of marijuana and poss. of paraphernalia. 2 years for smoking weed out of a glass pipe with in 1,000 feet of something, is that fair, NO!

king cola

The question is, will harder drugs become the next marijuana?

They want to pass a law, not sure if they did pass it yet but if you are caught with any amount of hard drugs, they want to give you a automatic jail sentence for it even if it's considered personal use. Nothing like more ways to crowd the prisons, then they argue about not having enough space

"Angelos, now 26, the founder of Extravagant Records, was accused of selling marijuana to a police informant three times in May and June 2002, each time charging $350 for 8 ounces."

"Either that's the best price I've ever seen, or that guy was selling some serious ditch-weed..."

Did they mean he was charging $350 per ounce for 8 ounces or $350 for a total of 8 ounces? That's definatly the best price i've ever heard of if that isn't a mistake.

"This is insane. How can they give some guy 55 years in jail when there are killers out there that get less than 20? I expect something like that in a third world country or in Asia but not in the US. (well maybe in the south)."

They let sex offenders out in less time only to go and commit the same crime again. Someone drives drunk and kills someone, they face about 15 years!

If the guy had ties to gangs no wonder he carried a gun, when your moving a lot of weight which equals a lot of money, you can't take chances. It's not like he shot anyone, he probably carried it incase someone tried to shoot him. It's not the drugs, it's about a lot of money that comes from it. Anyone ever watch the movie "PAID IN FULL"? The guy has something like 14 kilos, he tells his partner that they have to sell it to get some ransome money to get his son back, his partner says, oh you have 14 kilos on you right now, he says yea, his partner turns around and shoots him for it because of greed.

I don't agree with people carrying a gun to sell drugs either but some do it because they might not put too much trust in the buyer who might have a weapon on them, i think this guy carried the gun to give himself a chance to fight back if the buyer decided to try to rob him using a weapon. I'm sure he was moving alot of stuff which would make him a good target for a robbery which would make it a good enough reason for him to need a gun. It's all unregulated, no one can go to the cops if they are doing illegal activities and someone robs them, someone steals a stash of drugs worth over $100,000, the way i see it, drugs or not, it's like stealing money itself but no matter what they can't report it to the cops so they take the matter into their own hands.

"The government responds that the informant saw a 10 mm Glock pistol lodged between the seat and center console of Angelos' BMW during the first sale and the music producer lifted his pant leg to show the same gun in an ankle holster during the second sale. "

"Displaying a firearm in that regard clearly constitutes use and brandishing," the prosecutors' brief says."

The gun wasn't even fired and i wouldn't consider that brandishing unless he pointed it at the customer. He probably showed that he had the gun incase the buyer decided to try something thinking he was unarmed.

When alcohol was illegal people were carrying guns too. Now that it's legalized/regulated we don't see people using guns when selling it, or some package store owners might but that's usually to prevent from being robbed of money which happens from time to time but we never really hear of anyone being shot for alcohol anymore. If drugs were legalized/regulated, it would put gangs out of that buisness.

Buzzby

People often carry a gun with no intention of using it on another human being. They carry them so that they will be able to protect themselves if attacked. Prohibition forces marijuana transactions into the criminal realm and criminals are notably unreliable about honest dealing. Why pay for something when you can point a gun at someone and take what you want for free? If you want to protect your life, your money, and your property you carry a gun.

As long as marijuana's illegal there will be people who have to handle large amounts of weed and money. Since those people cannot expect any protection from the police, their only recourse is to be armed.

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