TEEN DEALER COULD SEE WORK-RELEASE IN 6 MONTHS

MOULTON - The Moulton teen who faced 26 years in prison for selling
marijuana left his Wednesday probation hearing for the Lawrence County Jail,
where he will spend the next 12 months.

The teen's attorney said his client, 19-year-old Webster Alexander, would be
awaiting transport to Kilby Prison if the teen and his family had listened
to marijuana legalization advocates.

Decatur Attorney John Edmond Mays, who represented the young man, said the
advocates tried to persuade Alexander to hire a lawyer who would challenge
Alabama's tough sentencing laws.

Instead of serving prison time, Alexander, who sold marijuana four times to
a drug agent posing as a Lawrence County High School student, will be on
work-release in 30 days.

Suspended all but 2 years

Lawrence County Circuit Judge Philip Reich suspended all but two years of
the 26-year sentence he gave Alexander after the teen pleaded guilty to four
marijuana distribution charges and one possession charge earlier this year.

Reich split the two years and ordered Alexander to spend one year in the
county jail. Jailers will release him after one year, at which time
Alexander will spend a year on probation. If Alexander successfully
completes the probation, he will not have to serve the remaining year. After
that, he will be on 10 years of supervised probation and must perform 300
hours of community service. Alexander was facing up to 30 years for each
sale because he sold the marijuana within three miles of a school and a
housing project. Had he gone to trial instead of pleading guilty, Alexander
could have received 130 years in prison for selling less than 4 ounces of
marijuana and a possession charge.

National attention

The case drew the attention of national magazines and a Canadian newspaper,
and mobilized opponents of Alabama's tough sentencing laws for marijuana
sale and possession.

Mays said he supports the repeal of laws that make it a felony to possess
small quantities of marijuana. Mays said he has attended meetings of the
National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, and sources said he
was one of the attorneys that NORML recommended to people who are facing
marijuana charges.

But Mays said that because of the way NORML conducted itself in Alexander's
case, his association with the group is finished. Group members planned to
stage a demonstration at the Lawrence County Courthouse during Alexander's
hearing, and continuously tried to get the teen to hire another lawyer.

Alabama Marijuana Party founder and president Loretta Nall, who left the
courthouse before Mays made his announcement, would welcome Mays' decision.

Nall, an Alexander City resident who said she will run for governor in 2006,
said NORML should avoid future association with Mays because he advised
Alexander to agree to a 26-year sentence.

After Reich made his decision, Nall said she thought he was fair in giving
Alexander a year in jail and probation.

"I'm sorry he had to go to jail, but it's better than prison," she said.
Mays advised Alexander not to comment on the judge's decision out of fear
that it would raise the ire of Reich, whom he said had been made to look
like a villain in publications like Rolling Stone magazine, High Times
magazine and Cannabis Culture magazine.

Reich told Mays during the hearing that he had not read the stories. Reich
said he considered probation for Alexander, but his offenses warranted more
punishment. He also said he considered placing him in the county's Community
Corrections program, but the county has not received funding for the
program.

But Reich told Alexander and Mays at the bench that the teen's behavior
since his arrest and guilty plea have convinced him that he is serious about
reforming himself.

Earned diploma

Since his arrest and expulsion from Lawrence County High School, Alexander
enrolled in a private school and earned his high school diploma, and
completed a drug treatment program. He also has been speaking to adolescents
about the pitfalls of drug use, and was enrolled in Calhoun Community
College until his guilty plea resulted in the loss of his license. After
that, he did not have a reliable way to get the Limestone County campus.

Lawrence County District Attorney Jim Osborn did not object to the way Reich
divided Alexander's sentence.

"I think the judge made it plain that it was a serious offense and that it
won't be tolerated," he said.

Osborn said the outcry from reform advocates would have been louder if
Alexander had faced similar charges three years ago. The law at the time did
not allow convicts to serve concurrent sentences.