Life for football star who sold cocaine to pay cancer costs for mother
Chester began selling cocaine because he was unsure of how to provide for his mother. When he was 23, he was convicted under Florida law of possession of cocaine after police officers found a baggie with cocaine residue in it when he was pulled over for a traffic violation. While on probation for the possession charge, he was caught with only small user amounts of cocaine and marijuana. He was convicted under Florida law of possession of cocaine, marijuana, and paraphernalia but served no time.
A year later, he was convicted and held accountable for four kilograms of heroin and 50 kilograms of cocaine, nearly the entire amount of drugs involved in a conspiracy run by an uncle figure Because of Chester’s two prior convictions, a life without parole sentence was mandatory under the federal three-strikes law. If he had been sentenced under the federal sentencing guidelines instead, he would have received 10 to 14 years in prison and would be home with his family now.
Read full story at ACLU Special Report. A Living Death: Life Without Parole for Nonviolent Offenses.