Michigan prisoner seeks clemency in marijuana case after serving more than 20 years in prison

AG Nessel Sends Letter to Governor in Support of Michael Thompson’s Commutation

Michael Alonzo Thompson, who has been incarcerated in state prison since 1996 on charges related to a drug and weapons incident, is shown in this photo from the Michigan Department Of Corrections' web site

Flint Mayor Sheldon Neeley is asking for some relief.

Michael Thompson, 69, Neeley’s uncle, has served more than two decades behind bars after he was sentenced in 1996 to 42 to 60 years in prison on a felony firearm charge linked to drug charges.

“Today, I ask for a measurement of mercy and justice,” said Neeley during a public hearing Tuesday, Nov. 17, to discuss the potential commutation of the remainder of Thompson’s sentence.

Remembering days gone by when Thompson when would take him and others to a local park, Neeley pointed out his uncle has served 25 years for a nonviolent offense.

“I want to be able to have coffee, play chess with my uncle,” said Neeley. “Justice and mercy have to take place.”

Thompson’s sentence came after selling three pounds of marijuana to a confidential informant in 1994.

Speaking during the more than two-hour public hearing, Thompson said he’d been friends with the informant for around five years.

He commented that he sold drugs in the past -- from cocaine in the 1970s and transitioning to marijuana in the 1990s -- to help pay bills and support his family while also holding a job as a truck driver for an automotive company.

Executing search warrants at homes in Flint and Grand Blanc after he was arrested, police found more than a dozen guns which led to felony firearm charges as he was a convicted felon.

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.

A plea that had been struck by Thompson to have three charges dropped was rejected by the judge. Under the rejected deal, Thompson said he would have only gone to prison for two years.

Thompson went to trial and was found guilty on all five counts. He has served his time for the drug offenses but remains imprisoned on the felony firearm charges.

Advocates for Thompson have said most of the weapons were antiques. Thompson commented during the hearing that he’d accumulated the weapons over a more than two-year period, but they were stashed away.

Kimberly Kendall Corral, Thompson’s attorney, called the sentence handed down “egregious” in nature.

While Thompson had four prior convictions on his record, Corral said the disproportionate sentence was based on the possession of guns that he held in a peaceful manner but were tied to commission of the drug offense.

She argued the situation was an outlier of Thompson’s character and should not define the person he is now.

Timothy S. Flanagan, a member of the Michigan Parole Board who conducted the hearing, noted Thompson only had one misconduct on his prison record.

“You’re obviously not a management problem in the facility,” Flanagan said.

Corral was one of more than a dozen supporters for Thompson at the hearing that ranged from attorneys to family members and marijuana advocates from Michigan to California.

Rashawnda Littles, Thompson’s daughter, called her father “a great man” whose helped people in the past avoid violence as well as during his incarceration.

A groundswell of support has risen for Thompson’s case in recent years after it received national attention, with some celebrities calling for his release as well as a social media campaign, #FreeMichaelThompson.

In August, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel addressed a letter to Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, which was read aloud during the hearing, in support of commuting the remainder of Thompson’s sentence.

The letter which urges the governor to make the move reads, in part: “Mr. Thompson had the misfortune of having been convicted of drug offenses during a period time when draconian drug laws were prevalent in Michigan, including one which not just authorized, but mandated a life without the chance of parole sentence for drug offenses involving more than 650 grams of controlled substances.”

She added given Thompson’s prior offenses which made him a habitual offender “gave the trial judge virtually unfettered discretion in sentencing Mr. Thompson.”

The soonest Thompson would be eligible for parole April 2038, Nessel said, which would make him 87 years old.

As some pointed out during the hearing, Genesee County Prosecutor David Leyton has also become an advocate on Thompson’s behalf.

“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.

Related: Genesee County prosecutor seeks clemency for man serving 40-year drug sentence

The sentence Thompson received appears harsh, Leyton said, even including prior convictions, which the judge did.

Leyton said the sentence “goes against the interests of justice and fairness,” which is why he decided to join Thompson’s counsel in his application for clemency.

Thompson, who was recently diagnosed and treated after coming down with COVID-19, became teary-eyed after listening to the plethora of support.

“I just hope the parole board would look at my institutional record and look at the things (I’ve done) since I’ve been incarcerated,” said Thompson of the programs he’s participated in and helped create to mentor others. “What I’ve done before I came to prison...I’m far from that.”

No immediate decision was made following Tuesday’s public hearing.

A transcript of the public hearing will have to be generated prior to the parole board meeting on the situation, deciding its recommendation, and passing it on to the governor’s office for review.

Any recommendation by the parole board is not binding, with the final sign-off on a potential commutation of Thompson’s sentence requiring the governor’s approval.

Read more:

Michigan AG ‘horrified’ by Michael Thompson’s 42-to-62 year sentence for 1994 marijuana case

Sick with COVID-19, inmate can’t get out of prison even with AG, prosecutor backing him

Muskegon inmate with coronavirus receives meeting with parole board after AG support

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