After 4 years in Kansas prison for dealing pot, a life upturned
Ken Shimer was in such a dark place he wanted to end his life. The convicted pot dealer from Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, served close to four years in a Kansas prison until he was released on probation in 2022.
Thanks to encouragement from his daughter, Shimer no longer feels helpless, he told me recently.
Before he relocated back to South Carolina a little over a year ago, Shimer spent months in a work-release program in Wichita. He’s on probation in Kansas until July. He had trouble finding employment until he started his own business, but has no faith in our system.
Shimer’s story illustrates how Kansas’ war on drugs — specifically marijuana — can send formerly incarcerated individuals into a tailspin.
Pot is legal in bordering states Colorado, Oklahoma and Missouri. But in Kansas, the hunt for illicit drugs ensnared Shimer into a yearslong fight for freedom.
In 2019, Shimer was found guilty of possessing more than 60 pounds of marijuana with intent to distribute and of having no drug tax stamp. He appealed the legality of the 2015 traffic stop that led to his arrest, but the verdict was upheld in appeals court in 2021, according to court documents.
Last month, Shimer’s postconviction claim of ineffective counsel was shot down by Geary County District Court Judge Ryan W. Rosauer.
In his ruling, Rosauer concluded an acquittal was never in the cards for Shimer and defense attorneys were not to blame for his convictions.
“Mr. Shimer was guilty of the offenses for which he was convicted,” Rosauer wrote in court documents. “The fact that defense counsel could not successfully motion Mr. Shimer out of a conviction is not indicative of ineffectiveness.”
After his conviction, Shimer was sentenced to 52 months in prison. In January 2023, he moved back to his home state and spent the next few months trying to secure a steady job.
‘ZERO FAITH’
No one wanted to hire a convicted pot dealer, he told me. A restaurant in his hometown rejected his application after his felony conviction was flagged.
“I couldn’t even get a job at Pizza Hut,” Shimer said. “It was humiliating. It made you feel worthless.”
At that point, he’d had enough. Plans to take his own life were set in motion.
Shimer gave away treasured jewelry to his 28-year-old son, including his most prized possession — a gold ring encrusted with diamonds taken from engagement rings that belonged to his grandmother, great-grandmother and great-great-grandmothers.
These days, Shimer finds himself in a much better place mentally, emotionally and financially. He says an online hemp store he owns, Earthy Meds, is doing well. He’s traveled to South Korea to visit his only daughter who taught English courses there. Together they’ve gone to Vietnam. Shimer’s 25-year-old daughter now lives in Thailand, he said. He’s been there, too.
“She’s my pride and joy,” Shimer said. He credits her with helping him get through tough times.
Although Shimer is a convicted felon, he can legally sell hemp products online under the Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018, better known as the farm bill.
Cannabis products with no more than 0.3% THC — the active psychoactive compound found in pot — constitute lawful hemp and are not controlled substances under federal law, according to Shimer. Hemp products have medical uses, he said.
Last September, the bill expired. An extension will keep hemp legal until this fall. After that, Shimer has no clue whether Congress will authorize another extension.
“I have zero faith in our current lawmakers,” he said.
4TH AMENDMENT
I first became aware of Shimer’s case after some of his relatives reached out to me in August of 2021. They’d read a column I wrote about a questionable traffic stop in Junction City, Kansas that led to the arrest of a Florida man found with 17 pounds of marijuana in his vehicle.
In both stops, drivers with out of state license plates were targeted and ticketed over minor traffic violations. Then, without consent or reasonable suspicion of criminal activity a drug-sniffing police dog was used to conduct exterior sweeps of the vehicles.
Shortly thereafter, the correspondence between Shimer’s family and myself began. I was sent video footage of his traffic stop. Shimer was pulled over for driving in the left lane without passing on Interstate 70 in Junction City. Because I saw no probable cause for the initial stop, it was fair to doubt the veracity of the search. But a motion to suppress evidence uncovered during the stop was denied before Shimer went to trial.
I hadn’t written about Shimer’s case until now. I wanted to let the legal process play out but we’ve spoken often via text messages and phone calls in the past.
While I don’t condone people trafficking large amounts of pot across state lines, I still maintain that law enforcement officials must follow the letter of the law when doing their jobs. In Kansas, officers in that state’s war on drugs routinely violated a driver’s Fourth Amendment right against unreasonable search and seizures, a federal judge ruled last year.
Shimer is a former real estate broker and property manager. He fought for years for his freedom but ultimately the law won. He says he refuses to go back down the road of illegal pot dealing. Plus, he’s thankful for the opportunity to make honest wages in the hemp business.
“If somebody can drink a beer, then they should be able to smoke a joint,” Shimer said.
Legally, they can — just not in Kansas.
“Kansas is ruining people’s lives and throwing them in jail,” he continued. “It’s unfair, unjust and un-American.”
Shimer questions whether arresting nonviolent offenders like him is worth the risk officers take in potentially violating people’s constitutional rights.
I’d have to say no, not in the least.