T
The420Guy
Guest
ROCKFORD A longtime advocate of legalizing marijuana for medicinal
use in Illinois was sentenced Monday to five years in state prison by
Winnebago County Associate Judge Rosemary Collins. Now he wants Gov.
George Ryan to hear his case for clemency.
E.J. Pagel of Rockford was arrested and charged with felony possession
of a controlled substance and illegal drug possession with the intent
to sell. He was arrested for selling six pounds of pot to police
informants on three separate occasions in less than a month, Winnebago
County State's Attorney Paul Logli said.
Pagel could have faced 15 years in prison but was sentenced to five,
Logli said.
Pagel, who went to jail in 1977 for previous drug charges, said he
wants to have his sentence commuted by Ryan at a June hearing because
Pagel thought he was selling the pot to someone who would give it to
"a few rural folks who needed it to get them through the winter,"
Pagel said in a phone interview from his home Tuesday.
"It's all out of compassion that I did this."
Pagel's notion that his drug trafficking was for a higher good rang
hollow with Logli.
"We don't know where and in whose hands it (Pagel's pot) is going to
land ... and neither does Pagel," Logli said.
Asked whether Pagel was treated any differently from other defendants
with a history of drug arrests, Logli said Pagel was given
opportunities to change his behavior.
"He's gotten some breaks along the way," Logli said. "He had the
opportunity to alter his behavior, to discontinue his trafficking in
marijuana, go on probation and go into therapy."
Newshawk: Beth
Pubdate: Wed, 07 Mar 2001
Source: Rockford Register Star (IL)
Copyright: 2001 Rockford Register Star
Contact: talktome@wwa.com
Website: Rockford Register Star: Local & World News, Sports & Entertainment in Rockford, IL
Section: Front Page
Author: Rachel Cunningham, Rockford Register Star
use in Illinois was sentenced Monday to five years in state prison by
Winnebago County Associate Judge Rosemary Collins. Now he wants Gov.
George Ryan to hear his case for clemency.
E.J. Pagel of Rockford was arrested and charged with felony possession
of a controlled substance and illegal drug possession with the intent
to sell. He was arrested for selling six pounds of pot to police
informants on three separate occasions in less than a month, Winnebago
County State's Attorney Paul Logli said.
Pagel could have faced 15 years in prison but was sentenced to five,
Logli said.
Pagel, who went to jail in 1977 for previous drug charges, said he
wants to have his sentence commuted by Ryan at a June hearing because
Pagel thought he was selling the pot to someone who would give it to
"a few rural folks who needed it to get them through the winter,"
Pagel said in a phone interview from his home Tuesday.
"It's all out of compassion that I did this."
Pagel's notion that his drug trafficking was for a higher good rang
hollow with Logli.
"We don't know where and in whose hands it (Pagel's pot) is going to
land ... and neither does Pagel," Logli said.
Asked whether Pagel was treated any differently from other defendants
with a history of drug arrests, Logli said Pagel was given
opportunities to change his behavior.
"He's gotten some breaks along the way," Logli said. "He had the
opportunity to alter his behavior, to discontinue his trafficking in
marijuana, go on probation and go into therapy."
Newshawk: Beth
Pubdate: Wed, 07 Mar 2001
Source: Rockford Register Star (IL)
Copyright: 2001 Rockford Register Star
Contact: talktome@wwa.com
Website: Rockford Register Star: Local & World News, Sports & Entertainment in Rockford, IL
Section: Front Page
Author: Rachel Cunningham, Rockford Register Star
