DANNY TREVINO

The judge sentenced Danny to 16 years in federal prison. Danny, his family and a host of supporters were devastated.

“I don’t understand where the federal rules are that you have to follow," Trevino told a local MLive reporter following the sentencing. "If they are just enforcing state law, then why didn’t they just have the state do it then. Everything that happened in state court didn’t matter though, per jury instructions, because this was done in federal court.”

Danny’s mother later told the MLive reporter that her son was selectively prosecuted by the federal government and his prosecution was, in part, racially motivated. 

Although there is no evidence Trevino was selected by federal agents because of his Mexican heritage, statistics show minorities are more likely to be jailed for cannabis-related activities than their white counterparts. According to the Drug Policy Alliance, misguided drug laws and harsh sentencing requirements have produced profoundly unequal outcomes for people of color. Although rates of drug use and sales are similar across racial and ethnic lines, Black and Latino people are far more likely to be criminalized than white people. 

“Sadly, Danny’s case is not uncommon,” said Weldon Angelos, president and co-founder of The Weldon Project. “While mostly older white men around the country are profiting from the medical and recreational cannabis industries, thousands of Black and Latino people are serving long cannabis-related prison sentences. We are calling on the Biden/Harris administration to address this injustice, deliver sweeping criminal justice reform and offer clemency for non-violent cannabis offenders like Danny.”