22 Years in Prison are Far TOO LONG for Operating a State-Legal Medical Marijuana Dispensary!!!

Over 10 years ago my Dad left me and went to prison for operating a state-legal medical marijuana dispensary in California. He was given a mandatory minimum sentence of 20 years plus an additional 1 year 8 months. Today, marijuana is fully legal in 9 states and D.C. and medical marijuana is legal in 29 states -- yet my Dad remains in prison!!

I am Jasmine Scarmazzo and I’m 15 years old. I’m writing this petition because I want my Dad to come home from prison and I am asking our compassionate President to grant him sentence commutation. That’s the only way he will be released without serving over twenty years.

In California, medical marijuana has been legal since 1996 and there are thousands of medical marijuana dispensaries here. But over the years, many of them were raided and shut down by the federal government. My Dad was an owner of one of these STATE-LEGAL dispensaries but since his conviction, the Department of Justice and Congress have made changes in law and policy that means my Dad would not be arrested if he was operating a medical cannabis dispensary today.

My Dad is serving the longest federal prison sentence given to a medical marijuana dispensary operator and the only Medical Marijuana Dispensary Operator who has been convicted of conducting a Continuing Criminal Enterprise (CCE) - a law designed to prosecute Drug Kingpins! Following trial, two jury members recanted their guilty verdicts and gave sworn affidavits to that effect when learning the CCE conviction carried a 20 year Mandatory Minimum Sentence.

Today, 29 states and the District of Columbia have medical marijuana laws in place. In December 2015, Congress passed legislation that protects dispensary operators against arrest. Also, beginning in 2013, the Department of Justice stopped prosecuting medical—or even recreational—marijuana providers who are operating under state laws. Things have changed dramatically in the medical and recreational marijuana industries!!

And President Trump recently indicated he will support the legalization of marijuana -- finally putting an end to the destructive and wasteful war on marijuana and allowing states to decide. President Trump has also publicly stated his desire to issue more commutations and pardons to individuals who were unfairly treated.

Unless he receives a commutation from President Trump, my Dad will have to serve his full 22 year sentence while others currently prosper for doing the same thing he did: operating a state-legal medical marijuana dispensary! My Dad's co-defendant, Ricardo Montes, was granted sentence commutation on January 19, 2017 BUT, inexplicably, my Dad was PASSED OVER by President Obama and was not granted the same relief from his sentence that Mr. Montes was!! That means I will be without him for another decade unless our caring and thoughtful President Trump grants him his freedom!! I am already a sophomore in high school and he has not been here to see me grow up.

Please sign my petition and ask our President to grant my Dad sentence commutation. Thank you for your support!

To read more about Luke's case go to the CAN-DO Foundation's site.

To view a recent compelling and heartbreaking video of Luke's story, please go to "Luke Scarmazzo: Injustice Episode 4" on YouTube