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| Woman Freed After Getting Life Sentence for First Drug Offense |
| By Associated Press |
| Published: 05/13/2002 |
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An Alabama woman who became a poster child for critics of mandatory sentencing was granted freedom recently after once being sentenced to life without parole for a first-time drug offense. Theresa Wilson cried and was allowed to hug her husband and two children after a judge reduced her sentence to time served. Now 34, Wilson was sentenced in 1998 to spend the rest of her life in prison because of a law that branded her a ''drug baron'' when she sold a morphine mixture for $150. The 1986 law mandated the sentence because the mixture weighed more than 56 grams. The Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals last year ruled 3-2 that the life sentence for a first drug offense was cruel and unusual punishment, sending the case for a new sentence. Wilson will be on probation for three years. She remained in custody after the sentencing, awaiting paperwork for her release last week. Wilson said she plans to work as a church secretary and eventually wants to become a drug recovery counselor. |
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