After serving 31 years in prison on a marijuana conviction, 71-year-old Florida resident Richard DeLisi is a free man.
DeLisa left the South Bay Correctional Facility in Palm Beach County on Tuesday after serving the longest known sentence for a marijuana conviction, according to the Florida Department of Corrections. He’d actually been sentenced to 90 years after he was caught smuggling 100 pounds of weed into the U.S. from Columbia, prosecutors say.
While serving a 90-year prison sentence for selling marijuana, Richard DeLisi’s wife died, as did his 23-year-old son and both his parents. His daughter was in a horrific car accident. He never met two granddaughters — a lifetime of missed memories. https://t.co/5irzy7QSuw
— Chicago Tribune (@chicagotribune) December 10, 2020
Upon his release, DeLisa met two of his five grandchildren for the very first time, says Mary Bailey of the Last Prisoner Project.
Should there be a sentencing limit for non-violent crimes?
