Texas Department of
Public Safety posted a picture on Facebook of dozens of boxes — presumably
filled with over 3,000 pounds of marijuana — piled in front of a U-Haul truck
stopped by troopers in early December.
During the traffic stop
east of Amarillo along Interstate 40, troopers called DEA agents for help after
finding what they thought to be multiple boxes of drugs.
Florida resident Aneudy
Gonzalez, 39, was accused of transporting the marijuana from San Jose, Calif.,
to New York City. He was charged with felony drug possession and put in jail.
However, after nearly a month behind bars, Gonzalez
walked out of jail a free man with the charge dismissed, KCBD reported. That’s
because the “marijuana” was actually legal hemp, KTXS reported.
In 2019, Texas lawmakers legalized hemp production,
defining marijuana as a drug from the cannabis plant with more than 0.3%
tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, content, according to The Texas Tribune.
A DEA agent testified as being unaware of the state
law and confused by the THC content rules, KCBD reported.
“Today we beat the feds,” Mehler Cannabis, a law
firm specializing in marijuana-related laws, wrote in a Facebook post on Jan.
2. “We maintained from the word ‘go’ that all he had was hemp, and this morning
the U.S. government moved to dismiss the charges against our client.”
The law firm is seeking the return of the property
and “just compensation for our client losing a month of his life in the
custody.”
Gonzalez said he’s owed an apology in a statement to
Law 360.
“I was just doing my job and the government threw me
in jail for almost a month. I fully intend on pursuing justice, whatever that
entails,” Gonzalez told Law 360. “Nobody has apologized to me. Somebody owes me
an apology.”
In a statement, Texas DPS wrote that the trooper
believed the plant material was marijuana based on training and experience,
according to KCBD.
“The trooper arrested Mr. Gonzalez, and following
further questioning by a DEA Task Force Officer, the DEA Officer adopted the
investigation and took custody of Mr. Gonzalez and all evidence,” according to
the statement.
Do you think the feds should compensate the man that
was jailed for a month for transporting marijuana when in reality it was hemp?
Fucking Right!!! He should be compensated. His rent is prob due and his bills are backed up. He’s also owed an apology. Every time some goes to trial that’s the first thing the judge makes you do, is apologize for your crime.
ReplyDeleteKCBD IS FOR radio CannaBinoiD...
DeleteUna Cruz de Mariguana, is for hope of happiness in the other world when you die.
Aguilas del Norte, de Colombia.
He should definitely be compensated, he did not break any laws
ReplyDeleteYes agreed
DeleteHe had room, shelter and food while in jail. He makes good money in the Marijuana business, no need to compensate.
ReplyDeleteNo need to compensate him for depriving him of his freedom? Someone's a bootlicker
DeleteYou forgot he had no freedom in jail. He should be compensated.
DeleteWhat marijuana?
DeleteHe's not in the marijuana business. He is in the hemp business. The ability to differentiate between those two things should be a prerequisite to making judgements about someone's life and liberty in regards to the issue.
Delete-Solothurn la Arma
Sure, he is owed an apology and possibly compensation, but he also needs be thankful and appreciate that he lives in a just and fair country that respects the rule of law. If this were any number of other countries, including Mex, he wouldn't be getting out any time soon...unless he murdered or kidnapped someone, in which case he probably wouldn't have been charged at all.
ReplyDeleteI disagree that this man should feel thankful. These keystone cop dumbasses should know the difference. The fact that there are worse places to live is unfortunate but that doesn’t enter the picture as far this man b ing wrongfully jailed
DeleteThey arrested him without him commiting a crime!!! How is that just and fair? Took a whole month for them to do what's just and fair
DeleteYou can bet and believe that every one of these people that are saying that it's no big deal, if it was then they'd be screaming and crying about how unfair everything is and how bad they're being treated. We live in a sick world today, where people can justify the most ridiculous things
DeleteLack of due process at the expense of the govt. Texas is the most anal state cause their drug laws are antiquated. Locking up plp for pot is just plain stupid governance.
ReplyDeleteIf he claimed it was hemp and they disagreed, maybe they should have smoked a joint from it to see if it effected them. In reality they should have made some phone calls, and taken one day to get the information they needed.
ReplyDeleteNobody makes it through tejas without paying their dues,
Deleteeven in Arizona, mexicans had it made if they were in on it with sherifs and their wet back loving acolytes, also if the prison industries partners needed some free slave laborers for their private prison industries, all they had to do was call el Chapo or El Mayo to get sent a few truckloads of criminals.
So much for innocent till proven guilty, it’s guilty till u prove you’re innocent.
ReplyDeleteThe fact that the ‘police’ could misidentify cannabis from useless (in a drug context)hemp shows an astounding level of ignorance. If you want to bust people for moving drugs, maybe familiarize yourself with what ‘drugs’ (cannabis) actually looks like. Fuckin idiots.
ReplyDeleteThis man deserves at least a mil In compensation for the sullying of his presumably good name and for being locked up.
Frank
make the trooper smoke that harsh hemp, then maybe they would learn a lesson, about nonsense.
ReplyDeleteQuit whining about it, he and his attorney will get nicely compensated by the DEA and Texas State Police!
ReplyDeletehe has to get an apology and get some compensation money BUT he has to THANK the AMERICAN justice system for been able to go free.
ReplyDeleteI would like to see him asking the mexican legal system for an apology
"Whataboutism". Mexico or any other country in the world has absolutely nothing to do in this conversation. Why don't you mention the countries that marijuana isn't prohibited? I'll stay sitting down on my chair while you respond with an adequate answer.
Delete
ReplyDelete"In a statement, Texas DPS wrote that the trooper believed the plant material was marijuana based on training and experience, according to KCBD."... not to mention the guy is also Mexican. Hate turning this into a race issue but if the victim was white it would've been a whole different outcome.
The law only applies to "citizens", not the law enforcement crowd. After 7 years of public safety work directly with LEOs, most of them consider themselves to be of a different breed of people and we are "commoners" or "citizens". Therefore, apologies are not likely and they are more than willing to settle in a lawsuit, because its tax payer dollars, not their own.
ReplyDeleteWorking a 9 to 5 isnt freedom
ReplyDeleteHe is a slave of the capitalist world
Maybe he can get lost wages but a jail cell is as comfortable as a reefer so call it even atleastvthe jail has a gym and cable
The real slavery is in the drug trade as one wakes up one day realizing they are trapped between cops who want to jail the narco(or kill them), and other narcos that want them dead. THAT my friend is true slavery. I get up go to work and never have to look over my shoulder for enemies of any sort. I’d rather live like a peasant surrounded by love than pray to an altar of death to keep me safe during a short useless life filled with trinkets and toys and murder
DeleteHe wasn't working in jail, he ate TV dinners, watched TV all day, went to sleep at night.
DeleteHe is not required compensation he can sue civilly for compensation. This is America doesn’t anybody know the laws?
ReplyDelete