{"id":2794,"date":"2015-10-13T14:02:32","date_gmt":"2015-10-13T19:02:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.candoclemency.com\/?p=2794"},"modified":"2022-08-19T14:59:44","modified_gmt":"2022-08-19T19:59:44","slug":"clemency-weldon-angelos-55-years-for-pot","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sheryanne.com\/cando-new2\/clemency-weldon-angelos-55-years-for-pot\/","title":{"rendered":"Weldon Angelos – Serving 55 years for Pot is NOW FREE!!!!"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Weldon
Weldon with newborn son<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Congratulations to LUCKY #7 Weldon Angelos<\/strong> who walked out of prison on June 3rd, after a long journey.  CAN-DO Founder Amy Povah spoke to Weldon recently and was happy to hear that Weldon will be speaking out on behalf of others who are still waiting to receive similar good news.  It is long overdue for so many waiting in the pipeline.<\/p>\n

Please consider contributing to Weldon’s fundraiser on change.org<\/a> so he can buy a car!<\/p>\n

Watch the news story of Weldon Angelos’ release on KUTV:
\nWeldon Angelos feels ‘blessed’ after unexpected release from prison<\/a>
\nBy Daniel Woodruff, JUNE 3RD 2016<\/p>\n

Weldon Angelos<\/strong>
\nSentence:<\/strong> 55 years
\nAge:<\/strong> 36
\nYear Sentenced:<\/strong> 2004
\nServed:<\/strong> 12 years
\nOffense:<\/strong> 3 counts of possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime; 13 additional drug, firearm, and money laundering charges
\nPriors:<\/strong> Convicted for the possession of a handgun as a juvenile and received 3 months probation
\nProjected release date:<\/strong> 11\/18 2051
\nSupporters:<\/strong> Endless list of supporters include:
\nElizabeth Ainslie – AUSA for Eastern Dist. of Pennsylvania
\nRoss Anderson – Mayor of Salt Lake City, Utah
\nJudge Williams Bassler – U.S. Dist Judge of Nevada
\nU.S. Attorney James Brady  – (Western Dist of Michigan 1977-1981)
\nU.S. Attorney B. Mahlon Brown III (Dist. of Nevada 1977-1981)
\nAccess the Open Letter supporting Weldon’s clemency and list of additional names with titles (10 pages)  here:<\/a><\/p>\n

About Weldon’s case:<\/p>\n

Weldon Angelos, the son of a Greek immigrant and founder of a rap record company, was accused of selling marijuana to a police informant on several occasions worth a total of $350; the witness stated that Angelos had a firearm strapped to his body.  Between May and June 2002, Salt Lake City police set up a series of controlled buys from Weldon, whom they suspected was a member of the street gang Varrio Loco Town. Police arranged for an acquaintance of Weldon\u2019s to act as a confidential informant (CI), hoping to prove Weldon\u2019s involvement in trafficking large amounts of marijuana. The CI purchased \u00bd pound of marijuana from Weldon on two separate occasions. According to the CI, a firearm was visible in Weldon\u2019s car during the first buy. During the second controlled buy, the CI alleged that Weldon was wearing an ankle holster holding a firearm. Police searched Weldon\u2019s home in November 2003 and found additional guns, drug paraphernalia, and other evidence that officers claimed indicated his involvement in drug trafficking and money laundering.<\/p>\n

At trial, the jury convicted Weldon of 13 drug, firearm, and money laundering charges, as well as three counts of possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime. Two of the three counts of possession of a firearm resulted from the gun he allegedly carried during the buys with the CI. The third count stemmed from a handgun found in a bag in Weldon\u2019s home. Although one charge was dismissed and he was acquitted of three others, Weldon was sentenced to a mandatory 55 years in federal prison. Weldon received a 5-year mandatory minimum for the first charge of possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime; a consecutive 25-year sentence for the second, and another consecutive 25-year sentence for the third. With a two-point firearm enhancement, Weldon\u2019s adjusted guideline level was 78 to 97 months, to be served concurrently with the firearms mandatory minimums<\/p>\n

At sentencing, Judge Paul G. Cassell called Weldon\u2019s punishment \u201cunjust, cruel, and even irrational,\u201d comparing it to much shorter federal sentences given to repeat child rapists and airplane hijackers. Judge Cassell wrote a 67-page opinion urging President Bush to commute Weldon\u2019s sentence to 18 years or less. Unfortunately, none of these efforts proved fruitful.<\/p>\n

Post Incarceration:<\/p>\n

Despite health issues, Weldon has taken classes in computers, psychology, philosophy, public speaking and history, and has completed the Dental Laboratory Manager program. Weldon\u2019s relationship with his wife suffered as a result of his sentencing and the two are no longer together.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Congratulations to LUCKY #7 Weldon Angelos who walked out of prison on June 3rd, after a long journey.  CAN-DO Founder Amy Povah spoke to Weldon recently and was happy to hear that Weldon will be speaking out on behalf of others who are still waiting to receive similar good news.  It is long overdue for…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2800,"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-2794","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\/2015\/10\/Weldon_square.png",352,366,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\/2794","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=2794"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/sheryanne.com\/cando-new2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2794\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14948,"href":"https:\/\/sheryanne.com\/cando-new2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2794\/revisions\/14948"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sheryanne.com\/cando-new2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2800"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sheryanne.com\/cando-new2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2794"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sheryanne.com\/cando-new2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2794"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sheryanne.com\/cando-new2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2794"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}