26 YEARS IN PRISON FOR A NON-VIOLENT CRIME | MICHAEL THOMPSON [cannabis injustice]
June 14, 2021
Montel talks with Michael Thompson on this episode of Let’s Be Blunt. Michael never committed a violent crime, but yet he is the longest serving non-violent offender in Michigan State history. He was sentenced for 40 to 60 years and has spent the last 26 years in a Michigan prison for a cannabis-related charge even though recreational cannabis was legalized in Michigan in 2018. By the end of 2021 recreational weed is projected to be a $1.5 billion industry in Michigan. He has spent almost half of his life in prison for selling weed. It cost the state of Michigan over a million dollars to keep him there. And it was one of the single most egregious cases of injustice going on in the entire country. Fortunately, with the hard work of the Last Prisoner Project, The Grassroots Law Project, and the support of hundreds of thousands of people who signed petitions and helped raise awareness, he was granted clemency and released from prison on January 28, 2021.