{"id":2760,"date":"2015-10-05T11:03:34","date_gmt":"2015-10-05T16:03:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.candoclemency.com\/?p=2760"},"modified":"2022-08-19T15:00:08","modified_gmt":"2022-08-19T20:00:08","slug":"michael-meeko-thompson","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sheryanne.com\/cando-new2\/michael-meeko-thompson\/","title":{"rendered":"Michael “Meeko” Thompson – 60 years for pot – Michigan received clemency from Michigan Gov Whitmer on 12\/22\/20"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"mthompson_\"<\/strong><\/p>\n

THIS IS A MICHIGAN STATE CASE – NOT FEDERAL<\/p>\n

Name:<\/strong> Michael “Meeko” Thompson
\nDOB:<\/strong> 4\/19\/51
\nRace:<\/strong> Black
\nAge:<\/strong>\u00a070
\nChildren:<\/strong> 1 deceased 4 alive
\nGrandchildren:<\/strong> 6
\nCharge:<\/strong> Conspiracy to Distribute Marijuana and Gun Charges
\nServed:<\/strong>\u00a026 years
\nLength of sent:<\/strong>\u00a040 to 60 years
\nPriors: <\/strong>3 priors
\nRelease date:<\/strong>\u00a0 4\/29\/2038<\/p>\n

Accomplishments:\u00a0<\/strong>Michael was honorably discharged from the Navy military branch and was employed by General Motors Company under a program to employ veterans. Michael was bestowed many accolades surrounding his professional success. He was very instrumental in bringing about a truce with the street gang members in Flint, Michigan. He was an honoree of the NAACP Youth Award, Humanitarian, Business, Outstanding Achievement, the Proclamation declaring February 26, 1984 Unity Day. Also, Michael received the key to the City of Flint.<\/p>\n

Institution: Muskegon Correctional Facility, 2400 S. Sheridan Rd., Muskegon, MI 49442;<\/strong>
\nClemency Status: <\/strong>Denied by\u00a0Governor Rick Snyder of Michigan
\nSupporters:<\/strong> CAN-DO, THSI, Claudia Perkins, Deedee Kirkwood
\nMedia:<\/strong> \u00a0Tana Ganeva reported in The Intercept: \u00a0IN A WORLD OF LEGAL WEED, MICHAEL THOMPSON LANGUISHES IN PRISON FOR SELLING IT IN 1994<\/a>
\nABC News: \u00a0Michigan inmate serving 60-year sentence for selling weed requests clemency<\/a><\/p>\n

Michael Thompson has always been a good man – a humanitarian…now behind bars.<\/p>\n

He enjoys writing and has written a 7 page essay entitled, CAN YOU IMAGINE<\/a> detailing life in prison. He would very much like everyone to read it.<\/p>\n

Michael \u201cMeeko\u201d Thompson has spent more than two decades locked in a state prison and is now in the Muskegon Correctional Facility. Michael was arrested for selling three pounds of cannabis to an undercover officer. He had prior drug offenses, but no history of violence. When his house was raided after his arrest, a few antique firearms and one usable firearm were recovered. Despite the fact that the antiques did not fire and the one that did was owned by Michael\u2019s wife, he was convicted of felony possession of a firearm along with his cannabis charges. This was his fourth offense which labeled him a habitual offender, and he was sentenced to 40-60 years in prison. He could have been sentenced to as little as three to five years. Notably, even the Michigan Supreme Court stated Michael \u2018received a lengthy sentence\u2019. The Federal Court stated \u2018they would not have given a sentence of that magnitude.\u2019 Michael never had a juvenile record, nor did he ever commit any number of crimes, such as acts of home invasion, car-jacking, burglary, etc. yet many of the prisoners he has served time with have gone home for those types of convictions while he continues to suffer for a cannabis conviction.<\/p>\n

Prison is a lonely place, and should be reserved for violent criminals. Often inmates are incarcerated many miles from loved ones making visitations difficult. The stress of the trial and incarceration destroys marriages and families leaving convicted prisoners feeling alone behind bars. Many POW\u2019s (Prisoners of the War on Drugs) lose family while locked up, and Michael is no exception. His son was arrested for erratic driving behavior, which was due to an illness and he tragically died while in police custody. Michael was forced to mourn for his son behind bars.<\/p>\n

While in prison, Michael has exemplary conduct, only receiving a misconduct for stepping into a music room without having a pass. He has been selected by a majority of the prison population to be on the Warden Forum and elected as the Chairman at four prisons. Michael\u2019s been entrusted and designated with security clearance of high job assignments during eighty percent of his incarceration. He\u2019s been given assignments as a cameraman in the visiting room. He\u2019s been selected to assist prisoners with learning disabilities where he\u2019s been issued progress and work evaluations that indicate \u201cThompson\u2019s very trustworthy and respectful to MDOC Staff, always willing to help out when needed.”<\/p>\n

Prior to his incarceration, Michael was raised in a Christian family. Attended Flint Central High School, played all sports and was a starting guard on the Basketball team for three years.<\/p>\n

Mr. Thompson has spent more than enough time in prison and only wishes to be a productive member of his community again. We need to insist on his immediate release from prison so that he may continue his humanitarian efforts. \u00a0Michael and his family have suffered unjustly, and he\u2019s paid for his crime. Again, the crimes which he\u2019s been convicted did NOT result in any acts of violence.<\/p>\n

One of Michael’s biggest supporters is Claudia Perkins, his pre-imprisonment employer. She has been helping by raising awareness, supplying commissary money, and filing clemency requests with the Governor since his incarceration. She continues her fight, but knows she cannot do it alone. Due to Judge Judith A Fullerton\u2019s refusal to adjust this cruel and unusual sentence, we are urging citizens to contact Governor Gretchen Whitmer<\/a>\u00a0requesting compassion in this case and to grant clemency. Please send your letters to, P.O. Box 30013, Lansing, Michigan 48909.<\/p>\n

Quote from CAN-DO’s Amy Ralston Povah in\u00a0The Intercept:<\/a><\/p>\n

Amy Povah, a former federal prisoner whose drug sentence was commuted by Clinton and who advocates for the group CAN-DO Foundation for Clemency<\/a>, told The Intercept that it\u2019s an outrage that Thompson is still sitting in prison.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe has already served a quarter of a century for pot \u2014 that in itself is a crime,\u201d Povah said.\u00a0\u201cThe fact he owned guns that were unrelated to the underlying crime should not disqualify Thompson from receiving a commutation.\u00a0President Obama granted over 145 men who were charged as felons in possession of a firearm in addition to their drug charges. No one that was released by President Obama for gun charges has reoffended, that we know of.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

THIS IS A MICHIGAN STATE CASE – NOT FEDERAL Name: Michael “Meeko” Thompson DOB: 4\/19\/51 Race: Black Age:\u00a070 Children: 1 deceased 4 alive Grandchildren: 6 Charge: Conspiracy to Distribute Marijuana and Gun Charges Served:\u00a026 years Length of sent:\u00a040 to 60 years Priors: 3 priors Release date:\u00a0 4\/29\/2038 Accomplishments:\u00a0Michael was honorably discharged from the Navy military…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":3173,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_kad_blocks_custom_css":"","_kad_blocks_head_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_body_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_footer_custom_js":"","_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[27],"class_list":["post-2760","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-now-free","tag-can-do-foundation"],"featured_image_src_large":["https:\/\/sheryanne.com\/cando-new2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/Meeko-e1452834490564.png",100,88,false],"author_info":{"display_name":"Amy Ralston Povah","author_link":"https:\/\/sheryanne.com\/cando-new2\/author\/candoamy\/"},"comment_info":0,"category_info":[{"term_id":5,"name":"Now Free","slug":"now-free","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":5,"taxonomy":"category","description":"","parent":0,"count":192,"filter":"raw","cat_ID":5,"category_count":192,"category_description":"","cat_name":"Now Free","category_nicename":"now-free","category_parent":0}],"tag_info":[{"term_id":27,"name":"CAN-DO Foundation","slug":"can-do-foundation","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":27,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":461,"filter":"raw"}],"taxonomy_info":{"category":[{"value":5,"label":"Now Free"}],"post_tag":[{"value":27,"label":"CAN-DO Foundation"}]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sheryanne.com\/cando-new2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2760","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sheryanne.com\/cando-new2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sheryanne.com\/cando-new2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sheryanne.com\/cando-new2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sheryanne.com\/cando-new2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2760"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/sheryanne.com\/cando-new2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2760\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14949,"href":"https:\/\/sheryanne.com\/cando-new2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2760\/revisions\/14949"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sheryanne.com\/cando-new2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3173"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sheryanne.com\/cando-new2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2760"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sheryanne.com\/cando-new2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2760"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sheryanne.com\/cando-new2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2760"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}