Patricia Marilyn Spottedcrow Gets 10 Years In Prison For $31 Of Marijuana

Patricia Marilyn Spottedcrow never thought selling marijuana would land her in jail for over a decade.

But Spottedcrow, 25, now faces that reality, which includes being separated from her four children and husband, according to NewsOk. She'll also have to end her work in nursing homes.

In December 2009, Delita Starr, the 50-year-old grandmother of Spottedcrow's children sold a "dime bag" to an informant in her home. She asked her 9-year-old grandson for dollar bills to make change for an $11 sale.

When the same informant came back two weeks later to buy $20 of marijuana from Spottedcrow and Starr's pot dealing days ended, according to Tulsa World.

Starr and Spottedcrow were arrested for distribution, but Spottedcrow faced the additional charge of possession of a dangerous substance in the presence of a minor since her children were there.

From NewsOk:

"It just seemed like easy money," said Spottedcrow, who says she is not a drug user but has smoked marijuana. "I thought we could get some extra money. I've lost everything because of it."

The women were each offered plea deals of two years in prison. But because neither had prior convictions and the drug amounts were low, they gambled and entered a guilty plea before a judge with no prior sentencing agreement.

Spottedcrow was sentenced to 10 years in prison for distribution of marijuana, and 2 years for possession, running concurrently, according to Tulsa World. Starr received a 30-year suspended sentence, with five years of drug and alcohol assessments.

Starr was fined $8,600 and Spottedcrow $2,740 as well.

Comments

[UberdanSounds]

12:20 AM on 03/08/2011

Wowsers, add up the manpower labor hours, the equipment used, materials etc...I'm sure it easily outweighs what ever amount they'll recoup from this. Busting Grannies sellin' dimebags, gee, Great Job Barney Fife!

Here folks check out some Barney Fife clips to take the edge off.
http://www.hark.com/clips/zpttxrbmww-now-i-seen-ya-do-it-and-dont-tell-me-you-didnt-do-it

[Tryandkeepupwillyou]

09:53 AM on 03/04/2011

She's lucky they didn't call her a "Kingpin" There are plenty of those in prison and still no end to the bogus "war on drugs"
http://www.lifeforpot.com/
http://www.johnknock.com/

[WalkForward]

03:47 AM on 02/25/2011

Oh yes tax payers will pay 10yrs worth of a person's prison sentence for $31??!!!

[westnyc]

08:25 PM on 02/24/2011

When are we going to end this "OUTRAGE!?" Since our Supreme Court has refused to honor the Constitution they swore to uphold--the people should forcibly, yet peacefully, remove them? Our Founding Fathers gave us the tools we need to do so!

[AZmarijuana dot com]

03:44 AM on 02/24/2011

That amount of time for a crime like that is a total waste of tax payer money. This judge obviously doesn't have to pay the thousands of dollars it costs to imprison this woman himself or he might reconsider. I live in Arizona, but I can see the OK tax payers getting bent over from here. www.azmarijuana.com

[Jemm Magazine]

06:52 PM on 02/23/2011

How can we say our country is just when certain people have a financial stake in having people go to prison. Corporations such as Wakenhut, CCA, and others routinely donate large sums of money to conservative political causes. Thereby guaranteeing hemp remains illegal and a license to get wealthy at the expense of of ordinarily law abiding citizens.

[dgmeansit]

09:08 AM on 02/24/2011

I don't know anyone who says our country is just! Quite the opposite unfortunately! What is considered a crime, and the punishment for it, is completely insane! Murderers and child molesters often serve less time in prison than someone caught with a small amount of marijuana - for example!

[dgmeansit]

12:10 PM on 02/23/2011

Our countries leaders should be ashamed of giving this poor mother such a harsh sentence. This is especially true when millions of us believe marijuana should be legal. The judge should be removed from his position and replaced with someone who shows at least a little common sense, compassion, and understanding. Unfortunately, those qualities seem to be sorely lacking among the leaders of our supposedly free society!

President Obama - I think we can all assume that you are aware of this tragic injustice. How about using your presidential powers to grant this woman a pardon? I hope that's not asking too much!

As for the police officer - I wonder how proud he feels. I wonder just who he thinks he was serving and protecting!

[fumes]

09:08 AM on 02/23/2011

it's not ok to smoke Cannabis in OK..

it's a Police State.

[dgmeansit]

01:12 PM on 02/23/2011

If I was a wealthy tele-evangelist, I just might tell my gullible flock that it's things like this that makes God rain down so many tornadoes in that state :)

[CowboySandtoes]

07:51 PM on 02/22/2011

Porn, pharma, GMO etc etc is legal but marijuana is not.
wtf America. get with it. prudes

[pyoungsss]

06:31 PM on 02/22/2011

good lord!... that's a lot of time for not a lot of bud... but its the sale of it that takes it into a new realm... combined with what I can only assume was a very harsh judge...

[King Cashaw]

09:53 PM on 02/22/2011

I wonder if the fact this took place in Oklahoma, and the defendants are Native American, going by the names.

[dgmeansit]

01:24 PM on 02/23/2011

You make a good point! It sure wouldn't be the first time that the Native American's have been mistreated (or even killed) by the new powers in this country!

[fumes]

04:39 PM on 02/22/2011

teach the children well..

those four children just lost all respect for the law!

as did ANYONE reading about this atrocity.

[jway]

04:37 PM on 02/22/2011

If we are "free" people then we are free to demand an immediate end to this ridiculous "prohibition"! To say nothing, to be uneducated is NOT the American way!!

Marijuana has repeatedly been proven to NOT cause cancer, heart disease, brain damage, liver disease, emphysema, or overdoses, and its addictive potential is about on par with coffee. The DEA is 100% misinformed when it calls marijuana "extremely harmful"!

The marijuana prohibition empowers drug dealers and the cartels, and makes our children LESS safe! Because of the failings of the prohibition, our children now have easier access to marijuana than to alcohol! We parents have been patient long enough, we must speak up and demand that marijuana be legally sold to adults in gas stations and supermarkets just as beer and wine are today!

We need laws based on logic, not ideology! We need to put an end to Richard Nixon's marijuana prohibition and Legalize Adult Marijuana Sales!!

[King Cashaw]

09:55 PM on 02/22/2011

According to Susan Jacobs, paraphrasing of course, to be uneducated IS the American way. Look at the current state of US education.

[RedneckLiberal]

03:57 PM on 02/22/2011

So you can swindle people out of millions and get a bailout, but selling a plant gets you ten years in prison? This is so beyond stupid that I can't even think of the appropriate words.

[judderwocky]

04:46 PM on 02/22/2011

Best comment ever.

[maduce]

07:17 PM on 02/22/2011

I assume you're referring to the governor of Florida, or maybe some Wall Street types - Quote from Robert Reich (paraphrased) - " .... last year (2010) 13 hedge fund managers had income of OVER $1 billion EACH. Combined, their incomes would have paid the salaries of 5 million teachers ...". The drug laws are a very bad joke too - I guess that a judge and jury felt that Ms. Spottedcrow was a real danger to society. I wonder what incentive the informant had? This, along with many other politically motivated laws on the books all over the US aimed at victimless crimes should be eliminated and those imprisoned as a result, released.

[Vegan Girl]

03:52 PM on 02/22/2011

Wow is this a slap in the face of anything that's decent. We truly live in a pathocracy.
http://pathocracy.wordpress.com/definition/

[dgmeansit]

12:56 PM on 02/23/2011

Pathocracy is a great word to describe the current state of America!

[fumes]

03:46 PM on 02/22/2011

THREE PRESIDENTS ..

and TWO WISE GUYS..

say LEGALIZE:

"Hemp is of first necessity to the wealth & protection of the country."
~ Thomas Jefferson

"Make the most you can of the Indian Hemp seed and sow it everywhere."
~ George Washington

"Penalties against possession of a drug should not be more damaging to an individual than the use of the drug itself; and where they are, they should be changed. Nowhere is this more clear than in the laws against possession of marihuana in private for personal use... Therefore, I support legislatio n amending Federal law to eliminate all Federal criminal penalties for the possession of up to one ounce of marihuana."
~ Jimmy Carter

"The prestige of government has undoubtedly been lowered considerably by prohibition law. For nothing is more destructive of respect for the government and the law of the land than passing laws which cannot be enforced. It is an open secret that the dangerous increase of crime in this country is closely connected with this."
~ Albert Einstein

"The illegality of cannabis is outrageous, an impediment to full utilizatio n of a drug which helps produce the serenity and insight, sensitivity and fellowship so desperately needed in this increasingly mad and dangerous world." ~Carl Sagan
http://www.veryimportantpotheads.com/

[dgmeansit]

12:58 PM on 02/23/2011

Clearly, our countries current leaders (particularly in Oklahoma) are not great fans of the people you quoted! SAD!!!

[fumes]

02:58 PM on 02/23/2011

i don't get O's response at all..

his mother had cancer.. his father-in-law multiple sclerosis.

[LawrenceRoth]

07:16 PM on 02/24/2011

The only people most Okies seem to like and even know of are Jesus and Ronald Reagan.