How $45 worth of drugs landed a Baltimore man 20 years in prison

BamaPokerplayer · May 9, 2015

Maryland District Judge Askew Gatewood brushed off a prosecutor's request to jail Ronald Hammond for possessing 5.9 grams of marijuana — saying it wasn't even enough pot to "roll you a decent joint" — and ordered the Baltimore man to pay a $100 fine instead. But the case eventually led to a 20-year prison sentence for Hammond.

http://www.vox.com/2015/5/8/8574047/marijuana-20-years-prison

Bamaro · May 9, 2015

Yeah, I read about that yesterday. Although he did break his probation terms an exception should have been made in that case. Today anything less than 10g of pot will only get you a fine.

Relayer · May 9, 2015

20 years for being a complete idiot (and selling cocaine).

i'll be honest, I'm having a tough time ginning much sympathy for the guy.

Jon · May 9, 2015

Relayer said:
20 years for being a complete idiot (and selling cocaine).

i'll be honest, I'm having a tough time ginning much sympathy for the guy.

I have sympathy for the taxpayers of Maryland that are paying roughly $31,000* a year to keep this guy in jail. Is it worth $620,000 over 20 years?

*source http://www.cbsnews.com/news/the-cost-of-a-nation-of-incarceration/

TommyMac · May 9, 2015

Jon said:
I have sympathy for the taxpayers of Maryland that are paying roughly $31,000* a year to keep this guy in jail. Is it worth $620,000 over 20 years?

*source http://www.cbsnews.com/news/the-cost-of-a-nation-of-incarceration/

Would you feel the same way if he got your kid hooked on cocaine?

BamaPokerplayer · May 9, 2015

TommyMac said:
Would you feel the same way if he got your kid hooked on cocaine?

I don't want to start a back and forth, but would you blame it on the dealer?

Bama Reb · May 9, 2015

Jon said:
I have sympathy for the taxpayers of Maryland that are paying roughly $31,000* a year to keep this guy in jail. Is it worth $620,000 over 20 years?
*source http://www.cbsnews.com/news/the-cost-of-a-nation-of-incarceration/

Like most civil servants, they find it's easy to spend other people's money. Tell them they're going to have to dig into their own pockets and their nether regions will tighten up before you can say ''say what?''

crimsonaudio · May 10, 2015

TommyMac said:
Would you feel the same way if he got your kid hooked on cocaine?

Would you blame the alcohol manufacturers if your kid became an alcoholic?

Jon · May 10, 2015

TommyMac said:
Would you feel the same way if he got your kid hooked on cocaine?

If one of my kids gets hooked on Cocaine I'll blame them first then my wife and I for not properly educating them of the danger of hard drugs

I won't blame the dealer just like I won't blame AB Inbev if my kid gets hooked on budweiser (though I would be disappointed in his poor beer choice)

TommyMac · May 10, 2015

Hmmm, amazing that some of y'all see no difference in a legally controlled brewery and a scumbag on the street pushing God knows what. Would you be just as willing to drink illegal moonshine as booze from a distillary with some degree of quality control? You never know what that street thug cut his illegal product with to maximize profits. I'm sure y'all have read some of the horror stories about what additives have been added to illegal substances, some of which are often fatal, same with moonshiners.

Mystical · May 10, 2015

Jon said:
I have sympathy for the taxpayers of Maryland that are paying roughly $31,000* a year to keep this guy in jail. Is it worth $620,000 over 20 years?

*source http://www.cbsnews.com/news/the-cost-of-a-nation-of-incarceration/

This. Waste of tax payer money.

cbi1972 · May 11, 2015

TommyMac said:
Hmmm, amazing that some of y'all see no difference in a legally controlled brewery and a scumbag on the street pushing God knows what. Would you be just as willing to drink illegal moonshine as booze from a distillary with some degree of quality control? You never know what that street thug cut his illegal product with to maximize profits. I'm sure y'all have read some of the horror stories about what additives have been added to illegal substances, some of which are often fatal, same with moonshiners.

Amazing that blame belongs on anyone but the person engaging in self-destructive behavior.

Bamaro · May 11, 2015

cbi1972 said:
Amazing that blame belongs on anyone but the person engaging in self-destructive behavior.

Possession of 5.9 grams of pot is far from "engaging in self-destructive behavior".

On the night of April 6, 2012, Hammond got into an argument with his girlfriend and a neighbor called police. Hammond had a small bag of marijuana, and an officer saw him try to toss it to the ground, according to court documents. Hammond was arrested and taken to Central Booking.

Hammond arrived for his court date without a lawyer and asked Gatewood for a postponement. Gatewood asked the prosecutor how much marijuana was in question.

"Your honor, it was one bag," the prosecutor replied.

"A trash bag or ...?" Gatewood asked.

"It was gross weight 5.9 grams."

Gatewood said he wouldn't postpone such a trivial case, according to the transcript. The prosecutor said he was seeking 30 days' jail time, and Gatewood complained about the waste of taxpayer money.

"The state's satisfied with guilty and a fine, your honor," Assistant State's Attorney Michael Brown said.

"There you go, Mr. Hammond. You don't want you to go to jail; I don't either," Gatewood said, moving the case along without Hammond having representation. "I will impose a fine of $100 in court cost."

"I really wasn't under the impression that this fine that I accepted to pay would be a guilty finding," Hammond says now. "I thought the fine would negate any other trouble at all."

Gatewood told Hammond to "be smarter."

Two months later, Hammond received notice of a violation of probation in the case before Stewart-Mays.
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/ma...ars-marijuana-case-20150507-story.html#page=1

bama_wayne1 · May 11, 2015

20 years for stupidity! I know it seems harsh, but, he made a conscious decision to do the crime....

Bamaro · May 11, 2015

bama_wayne1 said:
20 years for stupidity! I know it seems harsh, but, he made a conscious decision to do the crime....

If you read my quoted text from the Sun article, justice has not been served. At the end of the day, that's what it should all be about - justice.

mittman · May 11, 2015

Bamaro said:
If you read my quoted text from the Sun article, justice has not been served. At the end of the day, that's what it should all be about - justice.

I know that there are a lot of people that feel this is not a just sentence. There are also a lot of people who feel that any sentence would be just. A great deal of them with personal experience of consequences of those that were never arrested. You are never going to win that argument with them. Trying to frame this in a way to cause sympathy for the individual can cause some pretty harsh reactions.

There has been a great deal of change in sentencing for drug crimes. In fact I believe the vast majority of those receiving jail time now are repeat offenders in possession of quantities that evidence dealing. IMO you are arguing for something that has for the most part already been addressed.

Edit: as to the specific case. There are reasons for probations. If one breaks the probation and gets away with it, it is no longer a valid policy. We should instead just force serving the original sentence instead of having them.

Search

How $45 worth of drugs landed a Baltimore man 20 years in prison

BamaPokerplayer

All-American

Bamaro

TideFans Legend

Relayer

Hall of Fame

Jon

Hall of Fame

TommyMac

Hall of Fame

BamaPokerplayer

All-American

Bama Reb

Suspended

crimsonaudio

Administrator

Jon

Hall of Fame

TommyMac

Hall of Fame

Mystical

All-American

cbi1972

Hall of Fame

Bamaro

TideFans Legend

bama_wayne1

All-American

Bamaro

TideFans Legend

mittman

All-American

New Posts

Latest threads

TideFans.shop - NEW Stuff!