Grandpa Serving Life Sentence for Pot Now Eligible for Parole

http://www.takepart.com/article/2015/05/23/jeff-mizanskey-parole?cmpid=tpdaily-eml-2015-05-25

Gov. Jay Nixon commuted Mizanskey’s sentence on Friday afternoon, making him eligible for a parole hearing.

“In the case of the commutation, my action provides Jeff Mizanskey with the opportunity to demonstrate that he deserves parole,” said Nixon in a press release. Gov. Nixon also chose to pardon five other nonviolent offenders, but he left Mizanskey’s fate ultimately up to the Missouri Board of Probation and Parole. It will make a final decision after a hearing, which will likely occur in the coming weeks.

Given that Mizanskey has been a model prisoner, with only two minor infractions during his incarceration—one for putting mail in the wrong spot, the other for messiness—his team of advocates from Show-Me Cannabis said it is “extraordinarily likely” that Mizanskey will qualify for parole and be sent home within the next few months.
Meet the Grandpa Doing Life Without Parole—for Pot

Mizanskey found himself the victim of such harsh punishment for a seemingly minor crime under Missouri’s prior and persistent drug offender law. In 1993, he was arrested holding a few pounds of marijuana, and in 1994, he was convicted of possession with intent to distribute. He received life without parole due to two prior convictions for the nonviolent crime of marijuana possession. Although Missouri’s three-strikes rule was repealed in 2014, it does not allow retroactive resentencing.