Sick with COVID-19, inmate cant get out of prison even with AG, prosecutor backing him – MLive.com

August 6, 2020

MUSKEGON, MI A man whose long prison sentence on marijuana charges gained widespread attention after Michigan legalized the drug is hospitalized with COVID-19, one of more than 150 at the Muskegon Correctional Facility to have contracted the illness in the last week.

Flint native Michael Alonzo Thompson, now 69, was sentenced to 40 to 60 years on charges related to the sale of 3 pounds of marijuana to an undercover officer in 1996. He was brought to Duane L. Waters Hospital, inside the Michigan State Prison, in Jackson, last week, his attorney, his daughter, and a legal advocacy organization each confirmed to MLive.

I knew something was wrong the last time I talked to him. His voice didnt sound right, said his daughter, Rashawnda Littles.

Thompson contracted the virus months after advocates filed a clemency petition on his behalf, arguing that his punishment outweighed his crime, especially after Michigan legalized the substance that he was convicted of dealing.

They also argued that Thompson has maintained a near-perfect record throughout his 25 years of incarceration, indicating that he would not be a threat to society if released.

In an interview with MLive, Littles described a Navy veteran and family man who once received the key to the city of Flint for his efforts to disrupt gang violence.

I dont want my father to be a story, she said. I want him to be a man that we can remember as a success (that) he did his time with dignity, and got out to be with his family. Thats the story I want to hear.

The case has received national attention, as supporters, including some celebrities, calling for his release, including through the social media campaign, #FreeMichaelThompson.

And on Wednesday, Attorney General Dana Nessel sent a letter to Gov. Gretchen Whitmer in support of commuting Thompsons sentence.

While technically legal, the sentence imposed on Mr. Thompson is the product of a different time in Michigan legal history. And it is a time that has passed, reads the letter, in part.

That letter joins one submitted in April by David Leyon, the Genesee County prosecutor, who argued that the mounting threat posed by COVID-19 rendered a reconsideration of Thompsons case more urgent.

RELATED: Coronavirus outbreak at Muskegon prison increases to more than 150 inmates

But his advanced age and illness are not likely to speed up his release, said Chris Gautz, a spokesperson for the Michigan Department of Corrections (MDOC), because Thompsons conviction included weapons charges.

Thompsons case has received national attention in the last several months after he lost several prior attempts at clemency. Deedee Kirkwood, a Los Angeles-based cannabis activist who has been in daily contact with Thompson for about five years, helped to file one such petition before then-Governor Rick Snyder in 2018.

When that petition failed, Thompson had to wait two years to try again. The request was filed again in January, this time by attorneys at the Last Prisoner Project, a prison reform organization that works specifically with people serving long sentences for marijuana-related crimes.

The group filed a motion to expedite the petition in March, citing the health risk to Thompson, who has Type 2 diabetes and is classified as an older adult more at risk of experiencing the most adverse effects of COVID-19, said Sarah Gersten, that groups executive director.

Now, unfortunately, our worst fears have been realized, Gersten said, after Thompson informed his supporters on Friday, July 31, that he had been hospitalized with the illness.

Tens of thousands of people have written letters to Michigan lawmakers in support of that petition, Gersten said, and the social media campaign on Thompsons behalf has garnered some high-profile supporters, including comedian Sarah Silverman and television personality Montel Williams.

Thompson has also received support from Michigan officials, including Leyton, and Attorney General Nessel, who first expressed her support for Thompson via Twitter before submitting a letter to Gov. Whitmer, requesting that her office reconsider Mr. Thompsons application as expeditiously as possible and that he be released as soon as possible if your office will be granting his application.

A decades-long sentence like that imposed on Mr. Thompson is usually reserved for second-degree murder convictions or for particularly heinous rape cases involving multiple aggravated factors, Nessel wrote in her letter. Sentences of this length for selling marijuana are simply unheard of, even when accompanied by firearms offenses. Given that recreational and medicinal marijuana is now legal in Michigan, allowing Mr. Thompson to continue to serve this very draconian sentence is even more offensive and unreasonable.

Our hopes are that the Governors office and parole board hears these pleas from lawmakers and officials in their state that believe Michael should be free, Gersten said.

Many of Thompsons supporters argue that, because Michigan made recreational marijuana use and distribution legal in 2018, Thompson and other people incarcerated on marijuana-related charges should have their cases reconsidered.

This man is sitting here behind bars for the same thing you can go into a recreational store and buy, said Littles, Thompsons daughter.

But Gautz, the MDOC spokesperson, said that Thompsons earliest possible release date is 2038, and that only a commutation by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer could supersede that.

Even with that possibility, he added, Thompson would have to go through several months of hearings before his case reached Whitmers desk, and the governor could not override that process.

Thompson was convicted on five felony counts related to selling marijuana to an undercover law enforcement officer, according to news reports of the time. The charges included three drug charges possession with intent to sell; conspiracy to possess with intent to sell; and selling marijuana and two weapons charges.

Thompsons advocates say the weapons charges were unrelated to the drug dealing that guns were found in his home after he had been detained for dealing, that one was registered to his wife, and the others were antiques.

But because Thompson had a prior record three other felony drug charges he was not allowed to own a gun. That record also made Thompson subject to Michigans habitual offender statute, which lengthened his sentencing considerably.

In short, the extended sentence on the gun charges are what put Thompson behind bars for decades.

The judge in that case rejected a plea agreement negotiated with the prosecutors office, which would have seen Thompson plead guilty to just the two weapons counts, with the three drug counts dismissed and a sentence of probation.

In light of recent attempts at prison reform in the state, however, some in law enforcement such as Leyton, the prosecutor in the same county where Thompson was convicted have argued that Thompsons punishment no longer fits the crime.

I was not the elected prosecutor at the time but, what I can say based on my review of the case file almost 25 years later is that the sentence handed down by the judge certainly appears to be disproportionate to the crime committed, Leyton said in an April statement issued when he supported Thompsons petition for release.

Of about 39,000 people incarcerated throughout Michigan at the start of the pandemic, Gautz said that Michigan identified about 5,000 cases that could be reconsidered for parole, because those people had already served their minimum sentences.

About 3,500 people have been paroled since the start of the pandemic, Gautz said, but added that the move was not to open up space in crowded facilities.

Of those, Gautz said, the priority for parole included older inmates, and those with underlying health issues that could put them at greater risk for COVID-19.

While Thompson meets those two criteria, Gautz said, he would not have been included in that group of 5,000 because he has not served his minimum possible sentence.

Consequently, Gautz said, Thompsons case cannot be considered for a standard parole, but would have to receive a commutation from Gov. Gretchen Whitmer directly. Thompson would first have to go through several hearings before his case even reaches her desk, he added.

That timeline and the law are still in place, Gautz said. It would be months before the Governor would be able to act, because of the confines of state law.

That process is affirmed in a press release corresponding with Nessels letter, which describes a hearing process involving the parole board and assistant attorney general, before a recommendation can be brought to the Governors desk.

But, Nessels letter also states, sentencing guidelines today would not have seen such a harsh punishment imposed on Thompson. The weapons charges may have been different because he was not carrying them at the time of the drug sale, and Thompsons offense would be sentenced to a maximum of four years imprisonment, or a maximum of eight years if charged as a second drug offense, reads the release.

Gersten, the Last Prison Project director, also described the limits of the state parole process, saying that the Michigan prison system unlike federal prisons does not have a strong compassionate release statute for people like Thompson to attempt to leverage.

Thompson has so far served 25 of his minimum 40-year sentence. Gersten called this a de facto life sentence, made all the more serious now that he has been exposed to a deadly virus.

For months, the Muskegon Correctional Facility, where Thompson has been housed for several years, avoided an outbreak of COVID-19. But when news of the first confirmed coronavirus cases within those walls emerged last week, Thompsons supporters say they feared for his health.

Now 155 cases have been confirmed inside the prison, which houses just over 1200 people. Inmates confirmed to have contracted the virus have been sent to the Jackson hospital where Thompson is, or to the Carson City Correctional Facility, according to Gautz.

Thompsons supporters were concerned when they learned that his close friend inside the prison had contracted the virus. That man had recently helped Thompson to organize an event in honor of George Floyd, the Minnesota man whose death at the hands of police sparked an international movement against police brutality.

On Friday, July 31, Gerstens team received news from Thompson that he, too, was sick, and had been transferred to the Jackson hospital.

Thompson is now extremely weak, said Kirkwood, Thompsons friend and advocate. She said he lacks the nutrition he needs to address his Type II diabetes, which she said he developed while in prison, and that the man she once knew to do 500 pushups a day while incarcerated now has no energy.

Gersten argued that, even if Thompson recovers, this outbreak indicates a lack of safety inside the Muskegon prison.

The response from (MDOC) has been, Were doing everything in our power to ensure the safety and health of people in our care, but we know that has not, to date, been the case, Gersten said. If that were truly the case, Michael would have never contracted the virus.

Gautz previously told MLive that inmates have been given access to cleaning supplies, including bleach, a previously-banned substance, and PPE including masks. He also said that all Michigan facilities were tasked with developing plans for dealing with outbreaks, and that the Muskegon prison is currently implementing theirs, including creating isolation units for people who had close contact with infected inmates.

Mass testing took place last week of the two units where cases were first identified, and another 762 people were tested on Tuesday, Aug. 5, Gautz said.

According to MDOC numbers, 68 people incarcerated across the state and two prison guards have died of COVID-19.

As Thompsons case makes its way through legal channels, his advocates say they want people to know about who the man is, beyond the crime he committed.

He is an amazing human being, He is full of virtues, said Kirkwood. He does not lie. He is a maximum, honorable human being.

In her letter to the governor, Nessel touched upon Thompsons record in prison, calling him a model prisoner, and citing numerous positive reports from corrections officers for his work assignments

The fact of Thompsons COVID-19 diagnosis also played a role in exposing how Thompsons sentence has grown obsolete, Nessel goes on to argue.

If the trial court had sentenced him proportionately, Mr. Thompson would not have been anywhere near a prison as COVID-19 spread through our States prisons despite the best efforts of the MDOC to contain it, she wrote.

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