April 25, 2024 • 29 mins
On March 8, 2016, Officer Nicholas Blake became suspicious of two vehicles traveling together on Interstate 70 toward Manhattan, KS due to their appearance and registration inconsistencies. He suspected they were involved in drug trafficking, with one acting as a decoy. Following a series of stops and surveillances by multiple law enforcement officers, a considerable amount of marijuana and methamphetamine was found in one of the vehicles leading to the arrest of Donte Westmoreland and others. Westmoreland was convicted based largely on the testimony of an informant, Jacob Gadwood, who claimed to have bought marijuana from Donte, but the informant's credibility was later questioned, and a prosecutorial deal ensuring Gadwood would not be charged with a crime was never disclosed.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:03):
On March eight, twenty sixteen, Dante West and four friends
from California were traveling across country in two separate cars
with different final destinations. The last stop they planned to
make together was in Manhattan, Kansas, at the apartment of
a mutual friend named Jacob Gadwood. As they neared the apartment,
(00:24):
a police officer on High seventy spotted the pair of
out of state cars and immediately suspected them of drug trafficking.
He figured one with carrying the load, while the other
was a decoy meant to draw heat from law enforcement.
When the officer pulled Dante's car over, he was disappointed
to have chosen what he felt must have been the decoy,
(00:45):
but took note of the destination under GPS. The officer's
suspicions appeared to be confirmed when several pounds of cannabis
were later found in the other car. Then, Jacob Gadwood
claimed that he planned on buying one of those pounds
from Dante, just enough way to incur a nearly eight
year sentence. But this is wrongful conviction. Wrongful conviction has
(01:17):
always given voice to innocent people in prison. Now we're
expanding that voice to you call us at eight three
three two oh seven four six sixty six and leave
us a message. Tell us how these powerful, often tragic
stories make you feel outraged, inspired, motivated. We want to know.
We may even include your story in a future episode.
(01:40):
Call us A three three two oh seven four six
sixty six. Welcome back to Wrongful Conviction. This is the
first time we featured the story of someone who was
wrongfully convicted of a crime that I think we all
(02:01):
agree now should never even be a crime in the
first place, and it isn't in most of the country,
which is cannabis. And I'm talking about Dante West, my
friend who is an inspiration to me and so many
other people. So Dante, first of all, welcome to the show.
Speaker 2 (02:16):
Yeah, thank you, Jason. It's incredible just to be on
this platform.
Speaker 1 (02:19):
We also have an attorney named Chris Biggs who's been
practicing law for over forty years, who was a Secretary
of State of the State of Kansas. So Chris, thanks
for being here with us today.
Speaker 3 (02:31):
It's a pleasure. I appreciate the opportunity to share the story.
Speaker 1 (02:34):
And it is a crazy, freaking story. It involves the misguided,
disastrous social policy known as the War on drugs, it
has over policing elements to it. It's got snitches, and
it happened in Kansas, but it could have happened almost anywhere.
And in fact, it could have happened to me when
I was growing up different being, I wouldn't have been innocent.
(02:56):
Full disclosure. So Dante, let's start with you. You didn't grow
up in Kansas, right.
Speaker 2 (03:03):
No, I'm from a place called Stockton, California, right between
Oakland and Sacramento.
Speaker 1 (03:08):
And this happened when you were a college student, right.
Speaker 2 (03:12):
Yeah, this happened a couple of years after my high
school graduation.
Speaker 1 (03:15):
You know.
Speaker 2 (03:16):
I graduated twenty thirteen, went out there a few years later.
Like I mentioned before, just being from Stockton, California, Jason
and living with my grandmother was the sole provider of
two younger brothers that were eight nine years old at
the time. My grandmother really encouraged me just to say, hey,
you've been taking care of me, you should definitely just
go out there on a leap of faith and check out,
you know, schools. My good co infinita, Sean Perkins, had
(03:36):
a football scholarship at Tabor University, and we were just
really just going on a road trip, man, and I
was hoping I can continue it out there, first time
out of the state, and it was just, you know,
a wild experience.
Speaker 1 (03:46):
Dante Deshaun sat out on the road in a Hundai. Well,
three friends of theirs, Victor Lara, Enrique Hinejosa and Jose
Jimenez joined them in their Alexus.
Speaker 3 (03:57):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (03:57):
No, I've definitely knew the guys went to high school
with those guys friends for sure. They were going the
same direction, but different destinations.
Speaker 1 (04:04):
And they had a different agenda.
Speaker 2 (04:06):
I had like sbecsacpos, a couple pounds of marijuana. I'm
not too sure what was in there, and nothing ever
left the vehicle. Like I said, same direction, different destinations.
Speaker 1 (04:15):
Well, unaware of the contents of the Alexis, Dante and
Deshaun planned on visiting a few colleges on their way
to Tabor College in Hillsboro, Kansas, a state that hadn't
yet adopted its neighbors use on cannabis.
Speaker 3 (04:27):
Kansas is surrounded by Colorado, which has recreational use, Oklahoma,
which has medicinal use. Missouri now has been medicinal use
and recreational use, and we're in between all those states,
and we still have very conservative state laws about using
or delivering marijuana. And there's also a lot of enforcement
(04:49):
that happens on the interstate highway. Profiling is not allowed.
The issue is whether the officers had an independent reason
to stop you. My experiences, if you who have out
of state tags and they're young people, that they probably
have a better opportunity of being stopped. The practice of
using a ruse is very common. They stop people for
(05:10):
things like following too closely, having a head lamp with
some dirt on it, things like that as a ruse,
which constitutionally is allowed.
Speaker 1 (05:18):
On March eighth, twenty sixteen, Dante Deshaun were traveling down
Ice seventy in their Hyundai with Nimbata plates, while the
Lexus had only one California plate on the front. Officer
Nicholas Blake later testified that he believed that the two
cars were working in tandem to transport drugs, with one
car carrying the load while the other played the decoy
meant to draw law enforcement away from the drugs, but
(05:41):
which was which in this officer's imagination. He pulled over
to Shaun and Dante, presenting his ruse as a reason
for the stop.
Speaker 2 (05:50):
Getting pulled over for having dirt on a license plate
on Ice seventy right, just actual rod grid dirt on
a license plate is pretty wild. I was a passenger
in the v the driver he got a ticket for
small amount of marijuana and a Swisher wrapper.
Speaker 3 (06:05):
Simple possession of marijuana and Kansas as a misdemeanor. The
officer suspected that the particular vehicle was connected to another vehicle,
and rather than arrest them, they let him go and with.
Speaker 1 (06:17):
The state alleged.
Speaker 2 (06:17):
Right, it was a decoy load car, right, And when
you think a decoy load car, you think it like
smoky in a bandit, Right, You kind of think of
something that's someone that's going to deviate off to kind
of let the drugs go. But really, when we got
put over by the officer, you told us to exit
off the next exit. We got off, went to the
Shell gas station and I started to clean my license
(06:38):
plate off, and then we glanced up. We just see
these troopers just kind of staring down at us.
Speaker 1 (06:43):
Right, Perhaps they were alerted to a potential drug bust,
only to be sorely disappointed. And if there was anything
to this decoy load car, theory, wouldn't Dantean Deshaun's car
have had something deliberately wrong with it.
Speaker 2 (06:56):
They could read the licen plate to see who the
car was registered. You think the decoy car? What were
they saying that we put dirt on the license plate
in order to get pulled over so the drugs could
get away?
Speaker 1 (07:07):
Is that?
Speaker 2 (07:08):
I don't know.
Speaker 1 (07:09):
The missing rear license plate on the Lexus seems like
a way more compelling reason to pull someone over. It
would stand to reason, after all, that the officer believed
that the Lexus was the decoy. But when the officer
found no load in the alleged load car to Shaun's Hunday,
somehow he held onto the theory and continued his pursuit. However,
(07:29):
it did not help matters any When both cars arrived
at Jacob Gadwood's apartment, Officer Blake had pulled the address
from Deshaun and Dante's GPS and alerted the police in Manhattan, Kansas.
Speaker 2 (07:41):
Ultimately, we get near Kansas State University going to meet
a guy that I thought was someone I knew right
and just went upstairs and the twenty minutes later I
came down the stairs to kind of greet the guys
that I traveled with. They went upstairs. As soon as
I get down to the parking lot, this guy pops
out and playing clothes and was like, hey, you're being
I was like being detained for what We just got
(08:02):
put over over the freeway for having the dirt on
our license plate.
Speaker 1 (08:05):
So it turned out that although Dante and Deshaun had
no idea, there was reason to suspect. Victor Lara, Enriquehnejosa
and Jose Jimenez, who was skated out of a back
window of Goadwood's apartment, left in their Lexus and later
were captured in Tapeka, Kansas, with a small amount of
methamphetamine and over six and a half pounds of cannabis. Meanwhile,
(08:26):
the police searched Jacob Godwood's apartment.
Speaker 3 (08:28):
The owner of the apartment the allegation was had his
own drugs at the apartment. They basically got that individual
to identify Dante as being involved, even though the drugs
were found in another car that he was not in.
Speaker 2 (08:39):
The person at the apartment said, Hey, I was going
to buy a pound a weed off Dante.
Speaker 1 (08:44):
Right.
Speaker 2 (08:44):
It wasn't like, oh, text messages or wasn't any any
other evidence, right, and we ended up going to jail
and the fight began.
Speaker 3 (08:51):
In Kansas for certain drug offence is there all the
way up to level one, which is the same as
first degree murder, And if you're charge of the level
through drag offens for marijuana, you can get a presumptive
sentence of up to one hundred and three months. And
if you'll also happen to be within a thousand feet
of a school, and often in the Midwest almost everything
(09:12):
is within the thousand feet of school property somewhere, and
they enhance that another level of the crime. But if
you kill somebody in the heat of passion at that
time it was sixty one months, we have laws that
make conspiracy to deliver a pound of marijuana or delivering
a pound in marijuana more serious than killing someone in
the heat of passion. That's just nuts. But nobody in
(09:33):
our conservative state wants to necessarily stand up and say
that at least not enough people that we can have
our laws changed.
Speaker 1 (09:39):
Laws like these make it so that the smartest play
for the guys in the Lexus is taking a plea deal.
Speaker 2 (09:45):
Victor Lauri ed up going to prison a couple of
those guys got probation. They took plea deals right because
they didn't want to go to a jury trial.
Speaker 3 (09:52):
People cannot be punished by exercising the right to a
jury trial in theory, But what happens is people who
take a deal can get a bit a fit and
the person that goes to trial, even though they're theoretically
not being punished for going to trial, the end result
often is the person that goes to trial and get
convicted will get a longer sentence than the person that
inners a plea.
Speaker 1 (10:11):
With these dynamics at play, taking a plea can also
be the most practical move. Brendan is a person like
the Shawn Perkins.
Speaker 2 (10:19):
He ended up going to prison for three years and
he lost his scholarship and has a beautiful family now
great dudes still stay in contact with him, and which
is so fortunate. Man like, and I'm the only defendant
that went to a jury trial. It's not like I
had any good offers or anything like that. And quite frankly,
I didn't even want to take anything. I'd rather just
take my chances at the jury trial.
Speaker 1 (10:38):
With Gadwood's word as the sole evidence against him, Dante
was charged with possession and conspiracy to distribute the small
amount of methamphetamine and one of the pounds of marijuana
that were found in the lexus, and of course, his
grandmother and younger brothers were absolutely devastated.
Speaker 2 (10:55):
All I can think about is my two younger brothers
that were back home eight nine years old at the time.
Had to make an unfortunate call to my grandmother and
I literally just told her I was locked up, and
she couldn't believe it, broke down crying. She was from
Texas and she was just really worried about what could
happen because growing up she's seen so many people, including
my mother. Really didn't know. My mother never met my father,
(11:15):
and she just knew how the criminal justice system can
do you sometimes, right, especially if you're kind of far
away from home, and she ended up passing away.
Speaker 1 (11:23):
Your grandmother died during the trial, Yeah, yeah, I during
the trial of a broken heart. Yeah, of a.
Speaker 2 (11:29):
Broken heart had a heart attack, and my world just crashed.
And I think that's the biggest issue, just people that
get separated, for the families. I was fortunate enough to
get out on bail and get back to my younger brothers,
and just to see all the things that they're going through.
It really just woke my mind up. How you'll never
get time back for the people you love. So I
ended up hiring a lawyer, and I flew out the
(11:50):
week of jury trial February of twenty seventeen, and I
met with the council and he told me, he was
like Dante, I didn't read your case, but I have
a motion here. I'm going to file a continuance for
jury trial. It's not because of you, it's because I
had a virus. Here's my doctor's note, and I'm a
presented to the judge and we should be able to
get some time.
Speaker 3 (12:11):
Some lawyers operate on what they call flat fee. You
pay me X amount of money all representing in this case.
Other lawyers do it by the hour. Contingency fees are
not legal in a criminal case in Kansas. But the
problem with the flat fee is the lawyer's getting X
amount of money regardless of how much time's put in.
But just human nature, if I've got a case and
it might get resolved, I'm not necessarily going to want
(12:33):
to put a lot of time into it until I
have to write and the file in this case clearly
indicated that a lot of the motions were filed towards
the end of the case. In other words, everybody else
is pled out, and then you see a flurry of
motions right before trial. So it looked like a lot
of preparation was happening just before trial. And the lawyer
was sick, and there was a comment made about the
(12:54):
doctor's note, and.
Speaker 2 (12:55):
End up going to that motion hearing with that attorney,
and that motion ultimately got denied and I had to
go to trial the next day when not so prepared counsel.
And it was super unfortunate on that.
Speaker 1 (13:06):
I've never heard that before, either a doctor's note, Your
lawyer's got a doctor's note? What is he missing gym class?
And then the judge doesn't bother to give a continuance.
Speaker 2 (13:17):
And his reason was that he had the case out
for a year and you didn't read any of it.
It's just not excuse and had to go to jury trial.
Speaker 1 (13:24):
And so trial went forward with what appears to be
a built in violation of Dante's right to effective council. Meanwhile,
the state presented several officers that claimed packaging material from
inside Godwod's apartment match materials found inside the lexis And
even though Godwould escaped any kind of accountability, officers and
the prosecutor claimed that Godwould had not received leniency in
(13:47):
exchange for testimony. And then Godwood took the stand.
Speaker 2 (13:51):
The state's aformant went on standard testified that he was
going to buy a pound of marijuana from me, and
I eventually got found guilty of the pound of marijuana.
Speaker 1 (13:58):
And also, do you weren't called selling it? This is
only that this character said that you were planning to
sell it to him, right, right, So it's a thought crime.
Speaker 2 (14:08):
And on the way to sentencing, fifteen minutes from the airport,
just seeing my younger brothers crying in the back seat
and feel like they lost everybody. That kind of just
woke my brain up. And going out there to that
sentencing learning that ninety five percent of people across the
state of Kansas cape probation and I had a host
of people support me, you know's no criminal history, and
(14:30):
ultimately many just sentenced me to seven years a months
for a first time offense.
Speaker 1 (14:46):
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Speaker 2 (15:02):
As I got into the reception area of Valdeto and
other prisoners I went to, we would see these lifers
and they had various crimes that they allegedly committed, and
they would fight for their innocence and it was just
so inspiring to see. And I said, if I could
put that fight towards the cannabis offense and whether it
be the pill, I try to work on the pill
end up losing it. But if I could put that
effort in time and those lifers, I felt like, if
(15:25):
I fought my way as much as I could, I
would fulfill my promise. Right, if I worked as hard
as I can every day to try to come home
to my younger brothers.
Speaker 1 (15:34):
They were just young kids, right, What were there nine
ten years old when this happened.
Speaker 2 (15:39):
Yeah, there were babies at the time that happened. You know,
I had to pick a foster family form. It happens
across America all the time.
Speaker 1 (15:45):
Man.
Speaker 2 (15:45):
People just get separated from their families. And I think
that gave me that motivation every day to kind of
get up five thirty breakfasts, get to the law library
early in the morning, and to try to educate myself,
just like those lifer guys would do. Then, after I
lost that direct appeal, and I was thinking, like, I'm
going to get this clemency. I wrote one hundred and
twenty five state reps. I wrote forty senators. Four people
(16:08):
wrote me back, a state rep by the name of
Willie Debb but actually came and see me during COVID.
The Kansas City Star picked it up. It was getting
real good publicity. I'm thinking, I'm gonna get this clemency. Right,
Mayor of La stepped in former Congresswoman Karen Bass. And
it was around the time of legalization of Missouri cannabis. Right,
And first two days it sales out. And then you
(16:29):
got a guy like me, first time of fence, serving
nearly eight years for pound of marijuana.
Speaker 1 (16:33):
Pound of marijuana that you didn't touch, didn't have, and
didn't sell.
Speaker 2 (16:36):
Yeah, yeah, it didn't say I mean allegedly there was
no money found. Right, someone said they were going to
buy a pound of marijuana. But it wasn't even no
money found in the house. It was in another car.
I mean, even my code offend and admitted to later
on in Affidavid that you know I had no knowledge
of it.
Speaker 1 (16:50):
Victor Lara wrote in an affid David, and this is
a direct quote. Dante at no point had knowledge of
the marijuana that was in my car. Dante and I
were on separate trips in the same direction. The only
reason I stopped at Gadwood's house was to take a
shower before I went to my final destination. End quote.
And this became part of a habeas petition that Dante
(17:10):
wrote but had yet to file, just as Chris Biggs
was being assigned as his counsel.
Speaker 2 (17:15):
Thank god, man he was appointed to me. Even asked me,
you put this together right, And he was surprised and
he was like, man, I got to put my law
degree on it and fix some errors on it as well,
but you have a chance to go home. And I
was like, man, I didn't believe you. And Chris told
me Kyleie, he said, I'm an older guy. I wouldn't
drive this far. I could have just sent you a
letter if I didn't think you had a chance.
Speaker 1 (17:35):
In addition to the obvious ineffective assistants claim, Chris was
also able to uncover a Brady violation.
Speaker 3 (17:41):
When I read through the transcripts, it was obvious to
me when this informant testified that it was peculiar because
he had drugs in the apartment. He testified freely, he
did not have a lawyer. There was no grant of
immunity that was presented to the defense by the state
to show what kind of immunity he got, and there
was no plea agreement to show what kind of deal
(18:03):
he got. And in this kind of case where the
only real evidence introduced was the testimony of one person,
if the state fails to disclose things that could affect
his credibility, that can be grounds for a new trial.
And what I did is I simply called the person
who was the informant and I asked him, I said,
you get any kind of deal? He said, well, yeah,
he worked off his cases which were never filed, and
(18:26):
as it turns out, he even had a confidential informant number,
and none of that was disclosed to the defense in
the case, and in fact a trial, he testified that
he didn't have a deal, and the prosecutor argued to
the jury that there was no deal, and.
Speaker 1 (18:41):
Then at least one of the cops got on the
stand and swore under oath that no deal was made.
Speaker 3 (18:46):
If by saying there was no deal, he got no
formal plea agreement, that may be true, because he never did.
Speaker 1 (18:52):
It's more like a wink and a nod. Huh.
Speaker 3 (18:54):
Well, And in my motion I said, we have a
right to know of any deal, whether it's just a
wink in or nod or a tacit understanding. But currently
the confidential informant agreement had been destroyed, so we didn't
have the contract with the police department and see what
the specifics were, but we knew that he had a
confidential informant number, which meant that there was some kind
of agreement. And if the case was that he got
(19:17):
something for testifying, there's a special instruction you get in
Kansas that says view this person's testimony with caution. And
so that instruction was not requested and was not given.
I think it could have had a great impact on
the outcome of the trial. So bottom line is he
got a trial whereby admittedly his lawyer was not prepared.
He gave medical reasons for that, but was forced to
(19:39):
go to trial. And then we had this problem with
evidence that was not discloded about benefits given to a
critical witness.
Speaker 1 (19:45):
Then Chris asked the newly elected prosecutor to look into
what kind of a deal Gad would have gotten.
Speaker 3 (19:51):
I called the prosecutor's office. I didn't tell him initially,
I had already talked to the informant. But when they
did a check, they found out that he had an
informant number. They disclosed that. To me, I think it
says a lot about the elected official that he was
willing to entertain my arguments. Listen to me, go back
and look at the record, and made sure that they
(20:11):
contacted people the police department to find out what the
story was with this particular witness, and once it was disclosed,
then agreeing to let him out of prison, and then
ultimately they just missed the charges.
Speaker 1 (20:23):
I know we don't hear these kind of things happen
often enough on the show, but occasionally the right thing
is done without years or decades of unnecessary, pig headed
and cruel pushback. So, as a result, Dante was released
on October fifteenth, twenty twenty.
Speaker 2 (20:39):
I just want to command Chris Man. He really went
in there, worked hard with the DA. He did't even
think he was going to happen, right, because he'll talk
about how rarely the step happens. My outdated was twenty
twenty five. I'm not even supposed to be on this podcast, right,
But I'm just super thankful for this integrity of the
prosecution and definitely Chris just kind of working hard.
Speaker 1 (20:57):
Man.
Speaker 3 (21:08):
You got to have the right people in a position
of authority that can make good decisions. I was a
prosecutor for a lot of years and my motto was
kind of I'd rather lose for the right reasons than
win for the wrong ones, and I always considered a
fair trial to be the goal. This prosecutor clearly wanted
to follow the law and do the right thing, and
(21:30):
they released him from prison based on our allegations in
our amended motion, and I think they deserve credit for that. Now,
if we had someone else there, they could have forced
a retrial, but it would have been a retrial with
proper instructions.
Speaker 1 (21:43):
Which would have meant cautioning the jury about the credibility
of the only witness in this case. So Dante was
finally able to be the big brother again.
Speaker 2 (21:52):
Yeah, just being released it was just life changing, man,
and just being home, finally get to fly back and
hug my brothers for the first time.
Speaker 1 (21:59):
They cried.
Speaker 2 (22:00):
It was just a sense of relief. Man, just while
you're in prison, it really makes you appreciate every single
day time accept that you can't get back. So when
I got out, my brothers were in high school. Once
a senior now playing football, trying to get him a
scholarship he wants to continue to play defensive back. And
my other one I was able to fortunate enough to
work really hard and put him through college. He's a
freshman all as studying business right here in UMKC. And
(22:23):
I'm just super thankful when I was able to come
home provide get some money and it hit my goal
right of just kind of putting my brothers through college.
I wouldn't have been able to do that if I
was locked up, man, And I'm just so fortunate and
so thankful I'm able to do that. When you get
out of prison, you don't get out with no money
right to take care of two young boys in California
where it's so expensive. I had the opportunity to go
(22:45):
work in Kansas City and my story got pretty big
and met my dear friend Nate Ruby. He hired me
as one of his first employees, made me an executive
as well, and taught me everything I knew about the
cannabis industry.
Speaker 1 (22:57):
Yes, the irony is real. Dante was wrong, hopefully incarcerated
for cannabis, only to emerge and succeed in a business
that is now legal and completely new to him.
Speaker 2 (23:09):
I met a guy, like I said before, named Nate Ruby.
He's the owner of Elissa Gardens from the Earth Dispensaries
out here in Kansas City, Missouri. And he hit me
in a DM and knew the guy that told ONMI.
And he said, man, come work for me, be one
of the first employees, and I would get up every
morning with them, bright and early. He would just tag
me along these finance meetings. I didn't know what was
going on, but he said, just sit in and listen
(23:30):
and just take notes and eventually it makes sense like
it did for you while he was in prison. And
it did, and he was able to give me a
brand that I was able to get back to prisoners
that are locked up in Kansas and around the Midwest
and the Southern states. Where a person that buys my
particular jar, they get a percentage of the proceeds to
the commissary count so they could talk to their family,
buy hygiene items, get food, commissary stamps the envelopes, anything
(23:54):
they need to succeed.
Speaker 1 (23:55):
Right, And this isn't the only way Dante's getting involved.
Speaker 2 (23:59):
Yeah, man I a key associated for the Last Purvisoner Project,
and we really just work on passing legislation for cannabis,
go on to state level and kind of work with
key stakeholders on trying to get people released, getting letters,
a recommendation of a shorter sentence, working with the attorneys,
whether it's presentation at the parole board, filing for the
executive clemency, or testifying on the state or federal level,
(24:20):
which is why legislations should be passed.
Speaker 1 (24:23):
And by the way, Dante and I were working on
a case together in Louisiana with Kevin Allen who's was
sentenced to life without parole for possession of the two
grams of marijuana, which just you know, for people, that's
one joint. If it's a decent sized joint, that's incredible.
Speaker 2 (24:41):
Jason mentioning Kevin Allen, kind of guy in Kansas day
Antonio Whatt serving nearly twelve years in prison for a
few pounds of marijuana is traveling through the interstate.
Speaker 1 (24:49):
There's still forty thousand people plus, I believe to this
day in a stealing concrete cage right now in America
for pot.
Speaker 2 (24:58):
Good thing about the time. Now, we have a great
governor in Kansas, Laura Kelly, and she's made mentioned of
people shouldn't be in prison more than you and I
for cannabis. Right, So this is our last term and
just looking forward to her taking a second look at
somebody these cases and making a time that fits the crime.
I feel like times are changing and we're looking forward
(25:18):
to helping more people.
Speaker 1 (25:19):
So we will be linking Last Prisoner Project as well
as your line of Cannabis where part of the proceeds
go to prisoners who are still casualties, still serving time,
casualties of the War on drugs. And with that we're
going to go to closing arguments. Well, first, I'm going
to thank you both for joining us here today, and
now I'm just going to kick back in my chair
(25:40):
and listen to anything else. Do you feel as left
to be said? Let's start with Chris and then Dante
you close it out.
Speaker 3 (25:47):
Well, I would just point out kind of big picture
that in society, we make choices every day about what
society is supposed to look like, and sometimes legislators and
the government's a little slow to respect. I mean, we
had prohibition, which tells me at some point in time
there was enough political support to control the distribution of alcohol.
(26:07):
We put a lot of resources into trying to control
cannabis over the years in different states, and we're starting
to see it change, and I think there just needs
to be a recognition that issue is out there and
it's a very big issue, and I'm hopeful that people
will continue to have open and honest discussions about it
so that decriminalization can occur in more places. If you're
(26:27):
hopping down I seventy, you're going to go from one
state to another without necessarily knowing what the laws are.
People like Dante get caught in the gap. This is
where these unfortunate stories come from. So I just hope
people will continue to have the conversation and collect the
evidence and review it so that things that make sense
can start happening. I mean, I don't think there's anybody
(26:48):
that would think that possession of marijuana or even distribution
of the amounts we're talking about should ever result in
a higher sentence than someone hurting someone with a dangerous
weapon to the point where they could lose their life
or actually allong somebody in the heat of passion. That
just makes no sense whatsoever. And I don't think people
really understand that until they fall into the net, so
(27:09):
to speak. And I think at a lot of places we've
been casting much too broaden net. And the other part
of it is, it doesn't matter what kind of system
you have set up. You have to have good people
that care and want to do the right thing at
every level, and that affects what can happen any system.
Speaker 2 (27:24):
I just want to encourage whoever's listening to it is
the same people that are wealthy that pay for these
lobbyists in each state that make cannabis legal so they
can own a retail and cultivation and manufacturing facilities should
be the same people lobbying to get re sentencing for
people that are locked up for a significant amount of
(27:45):
time in marijuana. Let's put the same energy into resetting
these folks dig it into these cases and helping people
that are serving a crazy amount of time for marijuana.
Right now, violent offenders. I think that's very doable, and
I think that's a fair ass from if you're a
republican democratic really doesn't matter. What's right is what's right,
especially if you've got any type of form of legalization
(28:07):
that should definitely happen.
Speaker 1 (28:15):
Thank you for listening to Wrongful Conviction. You can listen
to this and all the Lava for Good podcasts one
week early by subscribing to Lava for Good Plus on
Apple Podcasts. I want to thank our production team, Connor
Hall and Kathleen Fink, as well as my fellow executive
producers Jeff Kempler, Kevin Wartis, and Jeff Cliburn. The music
in this production was supplied by three time OSCAR nominated
(28:35):
composer Jay Ralph. Be sure to follow us across all
social media platforms at Lava for Good and at Wrongful Conviction.
You can also follow me on Instagram at It's Jason Flamm.
Wrongful Conviction is a production of Lava for Good Podcasts
and association with Signal Company Number one Yeah
On March eight, twenty sixteen, Dante West and four friends
from California were traveling across country in two separate cars
with different final destinations. The last stop they planned to
make together was in Manhattan, Kansas, at the apartment of
a mutual friend named Jacob Gadwood. As they neared the apartment,
(00:24):
a police officer on High seventy spotted the pair of
out of state cars and immediately suspected them of drug trafficking.
He figured one with carrying the load, while the other
was a decoy meant to draw heat from law enforcement.
When the officer pulled Dante's car over, he was disappointed
to have chosen what he felt must have been the decoy,
(00:45):
but took note of the destination under GPS. The officer's
suspicions appeared to be confirmed when several pounds of cannabis
were later found in the other car. Then, Jacob Gadwood
claimed that he planned on buying one of those pounds
from Dante, just enough way to incur a nearly eight
year sentence. But this is wrongful conviction. Wrongful conviction has
(01:17):
always given voice to innocent people in prison. Now we're
expanding that voice to you call us at eight three
three two oh seven four six sixty six and leave
us a message. Tell us how these powerful, often tragic
stories make you feel outraged, inspired, motivated. We want to know.
We may even include your story in a future episode.
(01:40):
Call us A three three two oh seven four six
sixty six. Welcome back to Wrongful Conviction. This is the
first time we featured the story of someone who was
wrongfully convicted of a crime that I think we all
(02:01):
agree now should never even be a crime in the
first place, and it isn't in most of the country,
which is cannabis. And I'm talking about Dante West, my
friend who is an inspiration to me and so many
other people. So Dante, first of all, welcome to the show.
Speaker 2 (02:16):
Yeah, thank you, Jason. It's incredible just to be on
this platform.
Speaker 1 (02:19):
We also have an attorney named Chris Biggs who's been
practicing law for over forty years, who was a Secretary
of State of the State of Kansas. So Chris, thanks
for being here with us today.
Speaker 3 (02:31):
It's a pleasure. I appreciate the opportunity to share the story.
Speaker 1 (02:34):
And it is a crazy, freaking story. It involves the misguided,
disastrous social policy known as the War on drugs, it
has over policing elements to it. It's got snitches, and
it happened in Kansas, but it could have happened almost anywhere.
And in fact, it could have happened to me when
I was growing up different being, I wouldn't have been innocent.
(02:56):
Full disclosure. So Dante, let's start with you. You didn't grow
up in Kansas, right.
Speaker 2 (03:03):
No, I'm from a place called Stockton, California, right between
Oakland and Sacramento.
Speaker 1 (03:08):
And this happened when you were a college student, right.
Speaker 2 (03:12):
Yeah, this happened a couple of years after my high
school graduation.
Speaker 1 (03:15):
You know.
Speaker 2 (03:16):
I graduated twenty thirteen, went out there a few years later.
Like I mentioned before, just being from Stockton, California, Jason
and living with my grandmother was the sole provider of
two younger brothers that were eight nine years old at
the time. My grandmother really encouraged me just to say, hey,
you've been taking care of me, you should definitely just
go out there on a leap of faith and check out,
you know, schools. My good co infinita, Sean Perkins, had
(03:36):
a football scholarship at Tabor University, and we were just
really just going on a road trip, man, and I
was hoping I can continue it out there, first time
out of the state, and it was just, you know,
a wild experience.
Speaker 1 (03:46):
Dante Deshaun sat out on the road in a Hundai. Well,
three friends of theirs, Victor Lara, Enrique Hinejosa and Jose
Jimenez joined them in their Alexus.
Speaker 3 (03:57):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (03:57):
No, I've definitely knew the guys went to high school
with those guys friends for sure. They were going the
same direction, but different destinations.
Speaker 1 (04:04):
And they had a different agenda.
Speaker 2 (04:06):
I had like sbecsacpos, a couple pounds of marijuana. I'm
not too sure what was in there, and nothing ever
left the vehicle. Like I said, same direction, different destinations.
Speaker 1 (04:15):
Well, unaware of the contents of the Alexis, Dante and
Deshaun planned on visiting a few colleges on their way
to Tabor College in Hillsboro, Kansas, a state that hadn't
yet adopted its neighbors use on cannabis.
Speaker 3 (04:27):
Kansas is surrounded by Colorado, which has recreational use, Oklahoma,
which has medicinal use. Missouri now has been medicinal use
and recreational use, and we're in between all those states,
and we still have very conservative state laws about using
or delivering marijuana. And there's also a lot of enforcement
(04:49):
that happens on the interstate highway. Profiling is not allowed.
The issue is whether the officers had an independent reason
to stop you. My experiences, if you who have out
of state tags and they're young people, that they probably
have a better opportunity of being stopped. The practice of
using a ruse is very common. They stop people for
(05:10):
things like following too closely, having a head lamp with
some dirt on it, things like that as a ruse,
which constitutionally is allowed.
Speaker 1 (05:18):
On March eighth, twenty sixteen, Dante Deshaun were traveling down
Ice seventy in their Hyundai with Nimbata plates, while the
Lexus had only one California plate on the front. Officer
Nicholas Blake later testified that he believed that the two
cars were working in tandem to transport drugs, with one
car carrying the load while the other played the decoy
meant to draw law enforcement away from the drugs, but
(05:41):
which was which in this officer's imagination. He pulled over
to Shaun and Dante, presenting his ruse as a reason
for the stop.
Speaker 2 (05:50):
Getting pulled over for having dirt on a license plate
on Ice seventy right, just actual rod grid dirt on
a license plate is pretty wild. I was a passenger
in the v the driver he got a ticket for
small amount of marijuana and a Swisher wrapper.
Speaker 3 (06:05):
Simple possession of marijuana and Kansas as a misdemeanor. The
officer suspected that the particular vehicle was connected to another vehicle,
and rather than arrest them, they let him go and with.
Speaker 1 (06:17):
The state alleged.
Speaker 2 (06:17):
Right, it was a decoy load car, right, And when
you think a decoy load car, you think it like
smoky in a bandit, Right, You kind of think of
something that's someone that's going to deviate off to kind
of let the drugs go. But really, when we got
put over by the officer, you told us to exit
off the next exit. We got off, went to the
Shell gas station and I started to clean my license
(06:38):
plate off, and then we glanced up. We just see
these troopers just kind of staring down at us.
Speaker 1 (06:43):
Right, Perhaps they were alerted to a potential drug bust,
only to be sorely disappointed. And if there was anything
to this decoy load car, theory, wouldn't Dantean Deshaun's car
have had something deliberately wrong with it.
Speaker 2 (06:56):
They could read the licen plate to see who the
car was registered. You think the decoy car? What were
they saying that we put dirt on the license plate
in order to get pulled over so the drugs could
get away?
Speaker 1 (07:07):
Is that?
Speaker 2 (07:08):
I don't know.
Speaker 1 (07:09):
The missing rear license plate on the Lexus seems like
a way more compelling reason to pull someone over. It
would stand to reason, after all, that the officer believed
that the Lexus was the decoy. But when the officer
found no load in the alleged load car to Shaun's Hunday,
somehow he held onto the theory and continued his pursuit. However,
(07:29):
it did not help matters any When both cars arrived
at Jacob Gadwood's apartment, Officer Blake had pulled the address
from Deshaun and Dante's GPS and alerted the police in Manhattan, Kansas.
Speaker 2 (07:41):
Ultimately, we get near Kansas State University going to meet
a guy that I thought was someone I knew right
and just went upstairs and the twenty minutes later I
came down the stairs to kind of greet the guys
that I traveled with. They went upstairs. As soon as
I get down to the parking lot, this guy pops
out and playing clothes and was like, hey, you're being
I was like being detained for what We just got
(08:02):
put over over the freeway for having the dirt on
our license plate.
Speaker 1 (08:05):
So it turned out that although Dante and Deshaun had
no idea, there was reason to suspect. Victor Lara, Enriquehnejosa
and Jose Jimenez, who was skated out of a back
window of Goadwood's apartment, left in their Lexus and later
were captured in Tapeka, Kansas, with a small amount of
methamphetamine and over six and a half pounds of cannabis. Meanwhile,
(08:26):
the police searched Jacob Godwood's apartment.
Speaker 3 (08:28):
The owner of the apartment the allegation was had his
own drugs at the apartment. They basically got that individual
to identify Dante as being involved, even though the drugs
were found in another car that he was not in.
Speaker 2 (08:39):
The person at the apartment said, Hey, I was going
to buy a pound a weed off Dante.
Speaker 1 (08:44):
Right.
Speaker 2 (08:44):
It wasn't like, oh, text messages or wasn't any any
other evidence, right, and we ended up going to jail
and the fight began.
Speaker 3 (08:51):
In Kansas for certain drug offence is there all the
way up to level one, which is the same as
first degree murder, And if you're charge of the level
through drag offens for marijuana, you can get a presumptive
sentence of up to one hundred and three months. And
if you'll also happen to be within a thousand feet
of a school, and often in the Midwest almost everything
(09:12):
is within the thousand feet of school property somewhere, and
they enhance that another level of the crime. But if
you kill somebody in the heat of passion at that
time it was sixty one months, we have laws that
make conspiracy to deliver a pound of marijuana or delivering
a pound in marijuana more serious than killing someone in
the heat of passion. That's just nuts. But nobody in
(09:33):
our conservative state wants to necessarily stand up and say
that at least not enough people that we can have
our laws changed.
Speaker 1 (09:39):
Laws like these make it so that the smartest play
for the guys in the Lexus is taking a plea deal.
Speaker 2 (09:45):
Victor Lauri ed up going to prison a couple of
those guys got probation. They took plea deals right because
they didn't want to go to a jury trial.
Speaker 3 (09:52):
People cannot be punished by exercising the right to a
jury trial in theory, But what happens is people who
take a deal can get a bit a fit and
the person that goes to trial, even though they're theoretically
not being punished for going to trial, the end result
often is the person that goes to trial and get
convicted will get a longer sentence than the person that
inners a plea.
Speaker 1 (10:11):
With these dynamics at play, taking a plea can also
be the most practical move. Brendan is a person like
the Shawn Perkins.
Speaker 2 (10:19):
He ended up going to prison for three years and
he lost his scholarship and has a beautiful family now
great dudes still stay in contact with him, and which
is so fortunate. Man like, and I'm the only defendant
that went to a jury trial. It's not like I
had any good offers or anything like that. And quite frankly,
I didn't even want to take anything. I'd rather just
take my chances at the jury trial.
Speaker 1 (10:38):
With Gadwood's word as the sole evidence against him, Dante
was charged with possession and conspiracy to distribute the small
amount of methamphetamine and one of the pounds of marijuana
that were found in the lexus, and of course, his
grandmother and younger brothers were absolutely devastated.
Speaker 2 (10:55):
All I can think about is my two younger brothers
that were back home eight nine years old at the time.
Had to make an unfortunate call to my grandmother and
I literally just told her I was locked up, and
she couldn't believe it, broke down crying. She was from
Texas and she was just really worried about what could
happen because growing up she's seen so many people, including
my mother. Really didn't know. My mother never met my father,
(11:15):
and she just knew how the criminal justice system can
do you sometimes, right, especially if you're kind of far
away from home, and she ended up passing away.
Speaker 1 (11:23):
Your grandmother died during the trial, Yeah, yeah, I during
the trial of a broken heart. Yeah, of a.
Speaker 2 (11:29):
Broken heart had a heart attack, and my world just crashed.
And I think that's the biggest issue, just people that
get separated, for the families. I was fortunate enough to
get out on bail and get back to my younger brothers,
and just to see all the things that they're going through.
It really just woke my mind up. How you'll never
get time back for the people you love. So I
ended up hiring a lawyer, and I flew out the
(11:50):
week of jury trial February of twenty seventeen, and I
met with the council and he told me, he was
like Dante, I didn't read your case, but I have
a motion here. I'm going to file a continuance for
jury trial. It's not because of you, it's because I
had a virus. Here's my doctor's note, and I'm a
presented to the judge and we should be able to
get some time.
Speaker 3 (12:11):
Some lawyers operate on what they call flat fee. You
pay me X amount of money all representing in this case.
Other lawyers do it by the hour. Contingency fees are
not legal in a criminal case in Kansas. But the
problem with the flat fee is the lawyer's getting X
amount of money regardless of how much time's put in.
But just human nature, if I've got a case and
it might get resolved, I'm not necessarily going to want
(12:33):
to put a lot of time into it until I
have to write and the file in this case clearly
indicated that a lot of the motions were filed towards
the end of the case. In other words, everybody else
is pled out, and then you see a flurry of
motions right before trial. So it looked like a lot
of preparation was happening just before trial. And the lawyer
was sick, and there was a comment made about the
(12:54):
doctor's note, and.
Speaker 2 (12:55):
End up going to that motion hearing with that attorney,
and that motion ultimately got denied and I had to
go to trial the next day when not so prepared counsel.
And it was super unfortunate on that.
Speaker 1 (13:06):
I've never heard that before, either a doctor's note, Your
lawyer's got a doctor's note? What is he missing gym class?
And then the judge doesn't bother to give a continuance.
Speaker 2 (13:17):
And his reason was that he had the case out
for a year and you didn't read any of it.
It's just not excuse and had to go to jury trial.
Speaker 1 (13:24):
And so trial went forward with what appears to be
a built in violation of Dante's right to effective council. Meanwhile,
the state presented several officers that claimed packaging material from
inside Godwod's apartment match materials found inside the lexis And
even though Godwould escaped any kind of accountability, officers and
the prosecutor claimed that Godwould had not received leniency in
(13:47):
exchange for testimony. And then Godwood took the stand.
Speaker 2 (13:51):
The state's aformant went on standard testified that he was
going to buy a pound of marijuana from me, and
I eventually got found guilty of the pound of marijuana.
Speaker 1 (13:58):
And also, do you weren't called selling it? This is
only that this character said that you were planning to
sell it to him, right, right, So it's a thought crime.
Speaker 2 (14:08):
And on the way to sentencing, fifteen minutes from the airport,
just seeing my younger brothers crying in the back seat
and feel like they lost everybody. That kind of just
woke my brain up. And going out there to that
sentencing learning that ninety five percent of people across the
state of Kansas cape probation and I had a host
of people support me, you know's no criminal history, and
(14:30):
ultimately many just sentenced me to seven years a months
for a first time offense.
Speaker 1 (14:46):
You're listening to wrongful conviction. You can listen to this
and all the lava for Good Podcasts one week early
and ad free by subscribing to Lava for Good Plus
on Apple Podcasts.
Speaker 2 (15:02):
As I got into the reception area of Valdeto and
other prisoners I went to, we would see these lifers
and they had various crimes that they allegedly committed, and
they would fight for their innocence and it was just
so inspiring to see. And I said, if I could
put that fight towards the cannabis offense and whether it
be the pill, I try to work on the pill
end up losing it. But if I could put that
effort in time and those lifers, I felt like, if
(15:25):
I fought my way as much as I could, I
would fulfill my promise. Right, if I worked as hard
as I can every day to try to come home
to my younger brothers.
Speaker 1 (15:34):
They were just young kids, right, What were there nine
ten years old when this happened.
Speaker 2 (15:39):
Yeah, there were babies at the time that happened. You know,
I had to pick a foster family form. It happens
across America all the time.
Speaker 1 (15:45):
Man.
Speaker 2 (15:45):
People just get separated from their families. And I think
that gave me that motivation every day to kind of
get up five thirty breakfasts, get to the law library
early in the morning, and to try to educate myself,
just like those lifer guys would do. Then, after I
lost that direct appeal, and I was thinking, like, I'm
going to get this clemency. I wrote one hundred and
twenty five state reps. I wrote forty senators. Four people
(16:08):
wrote me back, a state rep by the name of
Willie Debb but actually came and see me during COVID.
The Kansas City Star picked it up. It was getting
real good publicity. I'm thinking, I'm gonna get this clemency. Right,
Mayor of La stepped in former Congresswoman Karen Bass. And
it was around the time of legalization of Missouri cannabis. Right,
And first two days it sales out. And then you
(16:29):
got a guy like me, first time of fence, serving
nearly eight years for pound of marijuana.
Speaker 1 (16:33):
Pound of marijuana that you didn't touch, didn't have, and
didn't sell.
Speaker 2 (16:36):
Yeah, yeah, it didn't say I mean allegedly there was
no money found. Right, someone said they were going to
buy a pound of marijuana. But it wasn't even no
money found in the house. It was in another car.
I mean, even my code offend and admitted to later
on in Affidavid that you know I had no knowledge
of it.
Speaker 1 (16:50):
Victor Lara wrote in an affid David, and this is
a direct quote. Dante at no point had knowledge of
the marijuana that was in my car. Dante and I
were on separate trips in the same direction. The only
reason I stopped at Gadwood's house was to take a
shower before I went to my final destination. End quote.
And this became part of a habeas petition that Dante
(17:10):
wrote but had yet to file, just as Chris Biggs
was being assigned as his counsel.
Speaker 2 (17:15):
Thank god, man he was appointed to me. Even asked me,
you put this together right, And he was surprised and
he was like, man, I got to put my law
degree on it and fix some errors on it as well,
but you have a chance to go home. And I
was like, man, I didn't believe you. And Chris told
me Kyleie, he said, I'm an older guy. I wouldn't
drive this far. I could have just sent you a
letter if I didn't think you had a chance.
Speaker 1 (17:35):
In addition to the obvious ineffective assistants claim, Chris was
also able to uncover a Brady violation.
Speaker 3 (17:41):
When I read through the transcripts, it was obvious to
me when this informant testified that it was peculiar because
he had drugs in the apartment. He testified freely, he
did not have a lawyer. There was no grant of
immunity that was presented to the defense by the state
to show what kind of immunity he got, and there
was no plea agreement to show what kind of deal
(18:03):
he got. And in this kind of case where the
only real evidence introduced was the testimony of one person,
if the state fails to disclose things that could affect
his credibility, that can be grounds for a new trial.
And what I did is I simply called the person
who was the informant and I asked him, I said,
you get any kind of deal? He said, well, yeah,
he worked off his cases which were never filed, and
(18:26):
as it turns out, he even had a confidential informant number,
and none of that was disclosed to the defense in
the case, and in fact a trial, he testified that
he didn't have a deal, and the prosecutor argued to
the jury that there was no deal, and.
Speaker 1 (18:41):
Then at least one of the cops got on the
stand and swore under oath that no deal was made.
Speaker 3 (18:46):
If by saying there was no deal, he got no
formal plea agreement, that may be true, because he never did.
Speaker 1 (18:52):
It's more like a wink and a nod. Huh.
Speaker 3 (18:54):
Well, And in my motion I said, we have a
right to know of any deal, whether it's just a
wink in or nod or a tacit understanding. But currently
the confidential informant agreement had been destroyed, so we didn't
have the contract with the police department and see what
the specifics were, but we knew that he had a
confidential informant number, which meant that there was some kind
of agreement. And if the case was that he got
(19:17):
something for testifying, there's a special instruction you get in
Kansas that says view this person's testimony with caution. And
so that instruction was not requested and was not given.
I think it could have had a great impact on
the outcome of the trial. So bottom line is he
got a trial whereby admittedly his lawyer was not prepared.
He gave medical reasons for that, but was forced to
(19:39):
go to trial. And then we had this problem with
evidence that was not discloded about benefits given to a
critical witness.
Speaker 1 (19:45):
Then Chris asked the newly elected prosecutor to look into
what kind of a deal Gad would have gotten.
Speaker 3 (19:51):
I called the prosecutor's office. I didn't tell him initially,
I had already talked to the informant. But when they
did a check, they found out that he had an
informant number. They disclosed that. To me, I think it
says a lot about the elected official that he was
willing to entertain my arguments. Listen to me, go back
and look at the record, and made sure that they
(20:11):
contacted people the police department to find out what the
story was with this particular witness, and once it was disclosed,
then agreeing to let him out of prison, and then
ultimately they just missed the charges.
Speaker 1 (20:23):
I know we don't hear these kind of things happen
often enough on the show, but occasionally the right thing
is done without years or decades of unnecessary, pig headed
and cruel pushback. So, as a result, Dante was released
on October fifteenth, twenty twenty.
Speaker 2 (20:39):
I just want to command Chris Man. He really went
in there, worked hard with the DA. He did't even
think he was going to happen, right, because he'll talk
about how rarely the step happens. My outdated was twenty
twenty five. I'm not even supposed to be on this podcast, right,
But I'm just super thankful for this integrity of the
prosecution and definitely Chris just kind of working hard.
Speaker 1 (20:57):
Man.
Speaker 3 (21:08):
You got to have the right people in a position
of authority that can make good decisions. I was a
prosecutor for a lot of years and my motto was
kind of I'd rather lose for the right reasons than
win for the wrong ones, and I always considered a
fair trial to be the goal. This prosecutor clearly wanted
to follow the law and do the right thing, and
(21:30):
they released him from prison based on our allegations in
our amended motion, and I think they deserve credit for that. Now,
if we had someone else there, they could have forced
a retrial, but it would have been a retrial with
proper instructions.
Speaker 1 (21:43):
Which would have meant cautioning the jury about the credibility
of the only witness in this case. So Dante was
finally able to be the big brother again.
Speaker 2 (21:52):
Yeah, just being released it was just life changing, man,
and just being home, finally get to fly back and
hug my brothers for the first time.
Speaker 1 (21:59):
They cried.
Speaker 2 (22:00):
It was just a sense of relief. Man, just while
you're in prison, it really makes you appreciate every single
day time accept that you can't get back. So when
I got out, my brothers were in high school. Once
a senior now playing football, trying to get him a
scholarship he wants to continue to play defensive back. And
my other one I was able to fortunate enough to
work really hard and put him through college. He's a
freshman all as studying business right here in UMKC. And
(22:23):
I'm just super thankful when I was able to come
home provide get some money and it hit my goal
right of just kind of putting my brothers through college.
I wouldn't have been able to do that if I
was locked up, man, And I'm just so fortunate and
so thankful I'm able to do that. When you get
out of prison, you don't get out with no money
right to take care of two young boys in California
where it's so expensive. I had the opportunity to go
(22:45):
work in Kansas City and my story got pretty big
and met my dear friend Nate Ruby. He hired me
as one of his first employees, made me an executive
as well, and taught me everything I knew about the
cannabis industry.
Speaker 1 (22:57):
Yes, the irony is real. Dante was wrong, hopefully incarcerated
for cannabis, only to emerge and succeed in a business
that is now legal and completely new to him.
Speaker 2 (23:09):
I met a guy, like I said before, named Nate Ruby.
He's the owner of Elissa Gardens from the Earth Dispensaries
out here in Kansas City, Missouri. And he hit me
in a DM and knew the guy that told ONMI.
And he said, man, come work for me, be one
of the first employees, and I would get up every
morning with them, bright and early. He would just tag
me along these finance meetings. I didn't know what was
going on, but he said, just sit in and listen
(23:30):
and just take notes and eventually it makes sense like
it did for you while he was in prison. And
it did, and he was able to give me a
brand that I was able to get back to prisoners
that are locked up in Kansas and around the Midwest
and the Southern states. Where a person that buys my
particular jar, they get a percentage of the proceeds to
the commissary count so they could talk to their family,
buy hygiene items, get food, commissary stamps the envelopes, anything
(23:54):
they need to succeed.
Speaker 1 (23:55):
Right, And this isn't the only way Dante's getting involved.
Speaker 2 (23:59):
Yeah, man I a key associated for the Last Purvisoner Project,
and we really just work on passing legislation for cannabis,
go on to state level and kind of work with
key stakeholders on trying to get people released, getting letters,
a recommendation of a shorter sentence, working with the attorneys,
whether it's presentation at the parole board, filing for the
executive clemency, or testifying on the state or federal level,
(24:20):
which is why legislations should be passed.
Speaker 1 (24:23):
And by the way, Dante and I were working on
a case together in Louisiana with Kevin Allen who's was
sentenced to life without parole for possession of the two
grams of marijuana, which just you know, for people, that's
one joint. If it's a decent sized joint, that's incredible.
Speaker 2 (24:41):
Jason mentioning Kevin Allen, kind of guy in Kansas day
Antonio Whatt serving nearly twelve years in prison for a
few pounds of marijuana is traveling through the interstate.
Speaker 1 (24:49):
There's still forty thousand people plus, I believe to this
day in a stealing concrete cage right now in America
for pot.
Speaker 2 (24:58):
Good thing about the time. Now, we have a great
governor in Kansas, Laura Kelly, and she's made mentioned of
people shouldn't be in prison more than you and I
for cannabis. Right, So this is our last term and
just looking forward to her taking a second look at
somebody these cases and making a time that fits the crime.
I feel like times are changing and we're looking forward
(25:18):
to helping more people.
Speaker 1 (25:19):
So we will be linking Last Prisoner Project as well
as your line of Cannabis where part of the proceeds
go to prisoners who are still casualties, still serving time,
casualties of the War on drugs. And with that we're
going to go to closing arguments. Well, first, I'm going
to thank you both for joining us here today, and
now I'm just going to kick back in my chair
(25:40):
and listen to anything else. Do you feel as left
to be said? Let's start with Chris and then Dante
you close it out.
Speaker 3 (25:47):
Well, I would just point out kind of big picture
that in society, we make choices every day about what
society is supposed to look like, and sometimes legislators and
the government's a little slow to respect. I mean, we
had prohibition, which tells me at some point in time
there was enough political support to control the distribution of alcohol.
(26:07):
We put a lot of resources into trying to control
cannabis over the years in different states, and we're starting
to see it change, and I think there just needs
to be a recognition that issue is out there and
it's a very big issue, and I'm hopeful that people
will continue to have open and honest discussions about it
so that decriminalization can occur in more places. If you're
(26:27):
hopping down I seventy, you're going to go from one
state to another without necessarily knowing what the laws are.
People like Dante get caught in the gap. This is
where these unfortunate stories come from. So I just hope
people will continue to have the conversation and collect the
evidence and review it so that things that make sense
can start happening. I mean, I don't think there's anybody
(26:48):
that would think that possession of marijuana or even distribution
of the amounts we're talking about should ever result in
a higher sentence than someone hurting someone with a dangerous
weapon to the point where they could lose their life
or actually allong somebody in the heat of passion. That
just makes no sense whatsoever. And I don't think people
really understand that until they fall into the net, so
(27:09):
to speak. And I think at a lot of places we've
been casting much too broaden net. And the other part
of it is, it doesn't matter what kind of system
you have set up. You have to have good people
that care and want to do the right thing at
every level, and that affects what can happen any system.
Speaker 2 (27:24):
I just want to encourage whoever's listening to it is
the same people that are wealthy that pay for these
lobbyists in each state that make cannabis legal so they
can own a retail and cultivation and manufacturing facilities should
be the same people lobbying to get re sentencing for
people that are locked up for a significant amount of
(27:45):
time in marijuana. Let's put the same energy into resetting
these folks dig it into these cases and helping people
that are serving a crazy amount of time for marijuana.
Right now, violent offenders. I think that's very doable, and
I think that's a fair ass from if you're a
republican democratic really doesn't matter. What's right is what's right,
especially if you've got any type of form of legalization
(28:07):
that should definitely happen.
Speaker 1 (28:15):
Thank you for listening to Wrongful Conviction. You can listen
to this and all the Lava for Good podcasts one
week early by subscribing to Lava for Good Plus on
Apple Podcasts. I want to thank our production team, Connor
Hall and Kathleen Fink, as well as my fellow executive
producers Jeff Kempler, Kevin Wartis, and Jeff Cliburn. The music
in this production was supplied by three time OSCAR nominated
(28:35):
composer Jay Ralph. Be sure to follow us across all
social media platforms at Lava for Good and at Wrongful Conviction.
You can also follow me on Instagram at It's Jason Flamm.
Wrongful Conviction is a production of Lava for Good Podcasts
and association with Signal Company Number one Yeah
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