Free Richard Paey

I recently received a letter from Richard Paey, who is serving a 25-year mandatory minimum sentence in a Florida prison on drug trafficking charges, despite the fact that no believes he ever engaged in drug trafficking. As I explained after he was sentenced last year, Paey was accused of improperly obtaining painkillers by forging prescriptions from his doctor. He says the prescriptions were authorized, which his doctor (who faced possible charges himself) denied. But no one disputes that the drugs were for his own use: Paey, who uses a wheelchair, has long suffered from pain associated with a back injury, more recently compounded by multiple sclerosis. He was not accused of selling the narcotics. But because the amount of drugs involved exceeded an arbitrary threshold of 28 grams, he was found guilty of trafficking, which triggered the draconian sentence.

Prosecutors showed they did not believe Paey deserved such punishment by offering him a plea deal under which he could have avoided prison. Their position now seems to be that he deserves to spend a quarter century in prison for being too stubborn to accept that deal. Paey asked me to help spread the word about a campaign by the Pain Relief Network and November Coalition urging Gov. Jeb Bush to pardon him. Whatever your views on drug prohibition generally or its impact on pain treatment specifically, this is a case of obvious injustice that cries out for the governor's intervention.