The Deadhead Who Got Life for Mailing LSD—and Five Other Leading Candidates for Clemency

When he pleaded guilty to LSD
distribution in 1993, Timothy Tyler, a 24-year-old
Deadhead, had no idea he would be going to federal prison for the
rest of his life. As his sister, Carrie Tyler-Stoafer, observes in
a
new video about the case, there is no rational reason for a
defendant in Tyler’s position to accept a plea deal that calls for
a life sentence. Based on advice from his inexperienced public
defender, Tyler thought pleading guilty would reduce his sentence
to 21 years. If that had been true, he would be free by now. But
because of two prior convictions for selling small amounts of LSD,
pleading guilty to mailing a confidential informant more than 10
grams (including the weight of the paper) on two different
occasions triggered not one but two mandatory life sentences
without the possibility of parole.

“I was in shock that someone who was a nonviolent person, who
didn’t hurt people, who was real peaceful and honest…could get
life without the possibility of parole,” says Tyler-Stoafer.
“Murderers get 20 years…You could rob a bank and get 10
years…You could kidnap someone and get 10, 12 years….[You can]
do all kinds of evil things and still get out of prison
someday.”

Tyler, whose story was included in a
2013 ACLU report on life sentences for nonviolent offenders,
has been behind bars since 1993. His only hope of going free seems
to lie with President Barack Obama, who has used his clemency power
to shorten just 10 sentences so far but reportedly
plans to issue “hundreds, perhaps thousands” more commutations
by the end of his second term. The video about Tyler, produced and
directed by
Phil Lee, is part of planned documentary, Locked
Up, focusing on Tyler and five other nonviolent drug
offenders who are serving life sentences. Lee, who is
raising money on Kickstarter for the project, is about halfway
toward his goal of $45,000.

Until he read about Tyler’s case last fall, Lee says, he did not
realize you could receive a life sentence for a “crime” that
violates no one’s rights. “I had no idea that was even possible in
our society!” he says. “I am afraid much of the public has no idea
as well….Everything we can do to generate publicity on this issue
can help sway opinion and raise awareness.”