Man who got life for marijuana charge released
“I’M JEFF AND I’M FREE”
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — A man sentenced to life without parole on a marijuanarelated charge was freed Tuesday from a Missouri prison after being behind bars for more than two decades — a period in which the nation’s attitudes toward pot steadily softened.
Family, friends, supporters and reporters met Jeff Mizanskey as he stepped out of the Jefferson City Correctional Center, wearing a shirt that read “I’m Jeff & I’m free.”
“I spent a third of my life in prison,” said Mizanskey, now 62, who was greeted by his infant great-granddaughter. “It’s a shame.”
After a breakfast of steak and eggs with family, Mizanskey said, he planned to spend his post-prison life seeking a job and advocating for the legalization of marijuana. He criticized sentencing for some drug-related crimes as unfair and described his time behind bars as “hell.”
Mizanskey was sentenced in 1996 — the same year California became the first state to legalize marijuana for medical purposes. Medical marijuana is now legal in 23 states, and recreational marijuana is legal in Alaska, Colorado, Oregon, Washington state and Washington, D.C. “The reason he’s getting out is because the public clearly has changed its opinion about marijuana,” said Mizanskey’s attorney, Dan Viets.
Police said Mizanskey conspired to sell 6 pounds of marijuana to a dealer connected with Mexican drug cartels.
At the time, the life-with-no-parole sentence was allowed under a Missouri law for repeat drug offenders. Mizanskey already had two drug convictions — one for possession and sale of marijuana in 1984 and another for possession in 1991. Democratic Gov. Jay Nixon commuted his sentence. That allowed Mizanskey to argue for his freedom before a parole board, which granted his request.