Authorities will get you, even if you’ve been out of the game for years. That was the case of Anthony Alegrete, who served 24 months in federal prison and an additional 24 months of house arrest for his involvement in a cannabis operation. The bust ensnared scores of other individuals, including Evelyn LaChappelle and Anthony’s good friend Corvain Cooper. The latter would be sentenced to life on a third-strike drug charge.

Old charges coming back hurt that much more for Alegrete and his wife, Loriel. Anthony was in college. The two had built a successful local charitable endeavor in the Las Vegas area. Making matters worse, their third child, and first daughter, was on the way. 

Once out, Alegrete was determined to not only rebuild his own life but get Corvain home so that the two could further give back to the community.

Years Removed With A New Life, The Feds Come Calling

Alegrete and Cooper have been friends for nearly 30 years. Meeting at Hollywood High School in Los Angeles in 1994, the two had a tight bond. But by 2005, they began amicably heading in different directions as their careers blossomed post-cannabis sales. By 2008, the two hadn’t interacted much for years, with Cooper owning a fashion store, while Alegrete moved to Las Vegas and enrolled at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.

Like Cooper, the Alegretes also focused on community efforts. They created a charitable program for the city aimed at combating childhood obesity, Jump For Joy.

“After getting in trouble so much in my younger years and moving to Vegas, I gave myself a life sentence to community service,” he stated.

Within months, the program boasted hundreds of campers. Two years later, it boasted three to 4,000 attendees. The program would work with schools and organizations like the YMCA and Boys & Girls Club of America. With school and the program thriving, Alegrete found his path, dedicating his skills to community service.

Then, his past came back in the form of federal agents.

Charges Emerge Seven Years Later

Seven years removed from any illicit cannabis activity, Alegrete was stunned to see he was in the crosshairs of the law once again. In previous experiences, he had been convicted on operation-related charges. In one instance, he was sentenced for giving an ID to someone caught selling cannabis. Another charge stemmed from handling cannabis funds. He thought he had paid for his crimes. 

Alegrete wasn’t facing a mandatory life sentence for a third-strike offense like Cooper, whose three charges stemmed directly from drug charges. Not facing a mandatory life sentence, coupled with his ongoing schooling and community service, allowed Alegrete to earn a softer punishment than what he might have been given. He credits the outpouring of support he received from the community.

He recalled a procedural hearing, typically taking 15 minutes, became a “four-hour miniature trial about my character and the man I’d become post-crime.” He added, “I had people fly out. I had doctors and Ph.D. professors… fly out to speak about my character because I had been such a changed individual.” In the end, he said prosecutors portrayed him as a villain.

The courts would delay his sentencing for two years so he could finish college. Instead of taking the next steps in his career after graduating, the Outstanding Student Graduate award winner would serve two years in prison.

Prison certainly tested both Anthony and Loriel. He would do his best to continue educating himself, reading frequently. Some favorites included Nelson Mandela’s Long Walk to Freedom and all of Malcolm Gladwell’s works. The book to make the most impact was Gregory David Robert’s 2003 novel Shantaram, the story of an escaped Australian convict who lives in the slums of India where he provides free healthcare to the community while also continuing in illicit operations like the mafia.

While Anthony waited for freedom, Loriel served as the sole provider for herself and their three children. She was experienced in such a predicament. At 13, she provided a similar role to her family when her brother was arrested and tried.

While challenging, the two remained together. “She really stayed down, man,” Anthony said of Loriel, calling her a beautiful woman. “It’s my duty, no matter what, even if we broke up, to always make sure that she’s taken care of,” he said.

On May 14, 2015, Anthony received his release from prison.

A Return To Giving Back To The Community

Alegrete spent the next two years rebuilding what he lost. That included reestablishing his reputation, career and finances. Post-prison, he didn’t want to become a grunt. He wanted to thrive once again. He first landed a position with a logistics company, where he received equity while handling 1,500 deliveries every day. “I learned the logistics business, then I was slowly getting back into the entrepreneurial spirits,” he recalled.

The shared legal experience with Cooper reinvigorated their friendship. Once released, Alegrete would have regular calls with Cooper while he served his life sentence. The two talked like old friends while also thinking about how Cooper could earn his release. Those conversations eventually led to forming a social impact brand aimed at advocating for people like them in the system. The endeavor would also strive to ensure that kids don’t follow their path. They eventually settled on 40 Tons as a name, recognizing the amount of cannabis authorities allege Cooper had trafficked.

“We learned our lesson,” said Alegrete. “We wanna stop the next Corvain Cooper from going down that path,” he said. While educating kids, the endeavor also aims to provide support for prisoners through financial donations, scholarships, career fairs and other means of support.

Cooper had begun to garner significant support from various advocates and cannabis prisoner rights groups by this time. After he connected the groups to Alegrete, a unified effort began to take shape.

The Alegretes would launch 40 Tons to ensure Cooper would not harm his current standing by associating with a cannabis operation. Part of the company’s commitment to criminal justice is its line of shirts featuring past and current prisoners, including Cooper. All of the proceeds from the sales of prisoner-centric shirts go directly towards the featured prisoner.

On January 20, 2021, Cooper received clemency from then-President Trump. Upon his return, Cooper joined 40 Tons as an advocate and brand ambassador. Cooper does not have any involvement in the company’s cannabis or accessories line, per his sentencing conditions. He focuses on advocacy and the company’s clothing options.

40 Tons is now starting to become profitable. At the same time, the Alegretes continue to advocate for the release of nonviolent cannabis offenders. A primary focus is stopping recidivism, prisoners reoffending post-release. An upcoming career fair aims to help with resumes, obtain a career in the field, while also assisting offenders obtain their record expungement. The Alegretes hope their efforts are just one of many that help provides more resources to prisoners and families affected by the prison system.

Today, Alegrete considers himself “The type of citizen that our government would want.” He calls himself a contributor, noting his investments in the community while abiding by the laws as a tax-paying citizen.

“I had to go through the fire to come out the other side,” he said.

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Jonathan Wall is a living reminder that the War on Drugs continues to snare new individuals in the system with its severe mandatory minimum sentences.

The 26-year-old Maryland native faces a mandatory minimum 10-year sentence over a federal distribution conspiracy charge, with the Feds alleging that Wall was part of an operation running cannabis from Humboldt County, where he lived at the time, to his native Maryland. If he goes to trial and loses, he could face up to life with his conspiracy charge of distributing over 1,000 kilograms of cannabis.

Wall, a first-time offender, is alleged to be the mastermind of the operation between Northern California, including Humboldt County, to his native Maryland. The Fed’s crackdown occurred in April 2019, with Wall in custody since July 2020. His first trial date is nearly a year away in May 2022.

While he waits, the aspiring mainstream cannabis operator attempts to maintain his composure while interned in Baltimore’s Chesapeake Detention Facility, a facility with a penchant for violence and corruption involving inmates and guards. The matters were only made worse by the COVID-19 pandemic.

An Unconventional Route Leads To Early Cannabis Realizations for Jonathan Wall

Wall was born in Maryland and raised by his parents. He said they got along fine after adolescence, but had been contentious previously. Wall claimed to have had a bit of an issue with authority, stating that he “saw through the bullshit of society early on.” Happiness for Wall didn’t involve material goods like much of the world around him. Stating that he wanted to push his boundaries to find a sense of wholeness, he pursued an unconventional route.

That route included running away several times as a youth. He recalled the first time he smoked pot while on the run from home, joining a group of migrant crabbing industry workers in the back of their work van. He said everything changed from there. “Cannabis being introduced into my life allowed me to elevate my sense of consciousness and kind of see things in a different light.” Claiming to now see things differently, he said he “saw through the veil of the mundane, everyday reality, and witnessed the human experience as it truly is from a new and fresh perspective.”

Running away from home eventually led to Wall becoming homeless in his teens, turning to friends, and on occasions, public parks and restrooms. The lack of a stable home led to him dropping out of school, taking his GED instead to obtain his degree. Wall said the decision allowed him to pursue an alternate route in life.

He’d spend the next few years working in local restaurants, with cannabis supplementing his income. At 20, he saw an opportunity to enter the emerging California cannabis market in Humboldt County. At the time, California was operating as a medical-only marketplace, adhering to the Proposition 215 regulations and its subsequent reforms. Wall said he wanted to help provide cost-efficient cannabis to medical patients. Income would always be welcomed, but he stated several times throughout the interview with High Times that his prime intention was to give customers medical cannabis access.

Wall saw the lifestyle as a way to gain freedom from a society he felt disenfranchised with. He saw the 2008 economic collapse and subsequent lack of prosecution as a sign that society and the system was broken, with the working class left to serve to the rich. Through cannabis and Northern California, he shared that he “saw this as an opportunity to be entirely autonomous from a system that I saw as broken.”

Wall found that autonomy and a community he lacked back at home, save for his skateboarding friends. Wall felt he was contributing to a sustainable and victimless livelihood that helped others while providing him a modest living.

The Northern California community was well aware it still faced potential dangers with violating state and federal laws. However, the Obama years and the Cole Memo gave some a slight sense that the Feds were finally coming around on federal decriminalization and eventual legalization.

Wall said operators in the area remained “naturally paranoid” during the period, still in fear of just one person tipping off the Feds. Still, he said the general consensus was that cannabis prosecution was “a 20th century invention finally existing solely in the past,” which wouldn’t cause the unfortunate damages it had for decades before.

He said sentiments began to change when President Donald Trump appointed two anti-cannabis Attorneys Generals during his term, first Jeff Sessions and then William Barr.

Federal intervention became a reality in 2019. Wall was made aware that he was the subject of a crackdown while on vacation with family in Portugal. It was during this time that he said he became aware of the severity of cannabis charges. “Everybody knows it’s federally illegal, but certainly not to that extent until the find themselves affected first-hand,” he stated.

Wall was worried he wouldn’t be allowed back into America without facing apprehension. After those fears were dashed, he first tried to get his affairs in order, but he found many in his trying opting to “cash-out” rather than support him.

Eventually, around autumn 2019, Wall left the U.S. for Central America. He would stay on the run until July 2020 before turning himself over to Feds at Los Angeles’ LAX airport. He would be shipped across the U.S. via bus and “Con-Air” flights, stopping at various prisons along the way, before reaching his current destination in Maryland. He said the journey is known as “diesel therapy.”

Wall, A First-Time Offender, Fights The Effects Of Prison, COVID-19

While Wall awaits his hearing on nonviolent federal cannabis charges, he is housed at the Chesapeake Detention Facility in Baltimore. The facility, known for its high level of violence, also endured significant exposure to the COVID-19 virus.

“This is no place you want to be,” said Wall, as he reported that stabbings occur regularly. He noted that one prisoner went so far as to have weaponized milk cartons with bodily waste against guards in an assault.

The experience has certainly created an impact on Wall, like it would almost anyone. He doesn’t consider himself institutionalized, but shared that “staying in a groove is essential to healthy adaptation.” To do so, he exercises regularly, reads often and tries to meditate for at least 20 minutes a day. A profound read has been Murray Rothbard’s The Ethics of Liberty. The book  had a significance in developing his enthusiasm for Libertarianism social and economic structures. He also credited former cannabis convict turned author Richard Stratton for helping with his adjustment. 

Life in the facility worsened when COVID-19 reached the prison, with Wall saying he didn’t know an inmate who didn’t contract the virus. He stated that his symptoms were minimal but remains slightly concerned about possible long-term effects. He alleges that the guards brought in the virus, saying, “It’s the only way it comes in here.” He added that instead of separating infected cellmates from other individuals, the guards would lock the door, not allowing either to leave for days at a time. He called the scenario a nightmare.

Preparing To Fight The Case

Wall waits for his May 2022 first appearance in court. “I will have been incarcerated for 23 months as a legally innocent individual by the time I have my first appearance in court,” said Wall, asking if that timeline adhered to a citizen’s right to a speedy trial.

It is oft-reported that prisoners face harsher sentences if they forgo a plea deal and fight their charges—often forcing many to take a plea regardless or guilt or innocence. Despite the risk, Wall is ready to have his day in court. Whether guilty or innocent, Wall abhors the idea of “surrendering by copping out,” to a plea. He considers doing so accepting defeat. “I’ve known from childhood that these people were wrong,” he said of regulators. He doesn’t believe in fate, but said the case almost feels like something he’s been preparing for some time.

He calls the drug war “the most historically flagrant violation of personal property rights by the state.” Asking who is the government to regulate what a citizen can consume, he added, “especially a natural plant, widely regarded as a holistic medicine.” Wall would later explain that alcohol, pharmaceuticals and shotguns as far more dangerous, readily available legal options.

Wall’s lawyer, Jason Flores-Williams, is a noted activist and is prepared to fight the case.

Flores-Williams isn’t shying away from grand language to drive home his point. “I don’t understand this country’s commitment to ideological necrophilia, the insistence on continuing to have sex with dead ideas,” he said of the ongoing drug war and its effects.

The lawyer added, “I do not intend to live with the distinction of being the last attorney to have his client go to prison for pot.”

Despite the attention being on Wall, he hopes readers understand that he is just one of many continuing to be arrested and forced to serve years, decades for nonviolent cannabis charges. Like himself, many continue to face lengthy prison sentences despite the so-called “Green Rush” of legalization sweeping America.

He believes that without change, others like him will continue to get snared in the system while the powerful continue to escape punishment for the various allegations and crimes. “Are we tired of being lied to, tired of all the lies and the War on Drugs?” Wall asked.

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Ismael Lira grew up in the border town of Del Rio, Texas. He’d live there until getting caught up in the system for the first and only time. By his late 20s, Lira had settled into a life most Americans lived. He worked hard, enjoyed going to local restaurants with friends and loved spending time with his wife, Tina. 

The Feds believe Lira to be part of an ongoing criminal enterprise, alleging he was part of an operation that saw hundreds of thousands of dollars exchanged. They allege he was paid significantly for his work. Feds used witness testimony to infer that Lira’s expensive vehicles came from drug money in court.

Never offered a plea deal, Lira fought the charges and paid for it immensely. His decision saw his charges swell from a few pounds to hundreds. Ultimately, a pre-sentence report attributed roughly 33,000 kilograms of illegal cannabis to the Liras and the distribution ring. The alleged weight trafficked and earnings would be enough to trigger a mandatory life sentence for Lira.

Lira said that, “When you go to trial for conspiracy as I did, and lose, you are held accountable for conduct that other defendants committed, it is referred to as relevant conduct.”

For over 17 years, Lira has been torn from his family, home and life over his first non-violent cannabis offense. Several states away from his loved ones, he spends much of his time alone in a violent Indiana federal prison. All the while, advocates in and out of prison highlight his ongoing commitment to personal wellness and development, hoping he can be released sometime soon. 

Six Pounds Of Cannabis Becomes Hundreds

In 2004, the Liras were detained 50 miles from the U.S.-Mexico border near San Antonio. Ismael claims the couple were held from around 9 a.m. until 4 p.m. At that time, Tina was released, and her husband was arrested despite not having any cannabis, plant or otherwise, on him. From there, the case amplified in allegations and severity, when they were linked to another person caught that day at the checkpoint carrying roughly six pounds of cannabis in their car. 

Feds accused Lira of providing cannabis to that person. Between the arrest and trial, the six pounds and a single charge increased to a multi-person operation handling thousands of kilograms of cannabis. For his part, Lira cited various court statements that he believes misrepresent the facts, tying him to a cannabis operation in name only, without any hard evidence.

Lira said Feds eventually began looping in other witnesses to tie him to the case after his two co-defendants said they did not testify against him. He cited additional court transcripts alleging that Feds drug out the proceedings to build a case against him and his wife. 

Like most found in this predicament, whether guilty or not, Lira said Feds attempted to get him to plead out to avoid a trial. Eventually, Tina was also charged with alleged conspiracy. Lira swears that his wife was innocent. At that point, he said he knew he had to fight the charges and clear their names. The decision would prove costly.

Eighteen months after his arrest, the trial would begin. By day three, Lira knew he was in trouble. He recalled hearing prosecutors telling his defense attorney that they’d be paid regardless of the trial’s outcome. 

“It happens all the time,” he claimed.  

Lira said he ended up like many do, short on courtroom education with representation that didn’t help fill the gaps. Lira would better understand his case and conspiracy charges in the years since his conviction, stating that conspiracy must prove intent, knowledge and an agreement to further the operation. He said that two of three others charged in the operation didn’t know the Liras, and a deal had never been in place. 

“There were no seizures; there’s no weighing of the evidence,” Lira said. 

His fight wouldn’t sway the jury, with the Liras found guilty for their involvement in the operation. Tina would receive 11 years for her first offense; Ismael received life. 

Ismael Lira: 17 Years In Some of America’s Most Violent Destinations

The past 17 years have seen Lira shipped to several different prisons, witnessing frequent instances of violence and living far from any of his loved ones. 

His first stop was USP Beaumont, also known as Bloody Beaumont for its high level of violence and extended lockdowns. Lira only came in with 15 points as part of his assessment, which should have kept him from the more violent units. However, his crimes put him in the higher risk cell blocks. He called the experience an eye-opener, with murders a frequent occurrence. “I got to see more violence than I ever saw on TV growing up as a kid,” he recalled of the Texas prison he lived in until March 2008. 

Future stops would not reduce the brutality. Lira continued to see murder and other forms of violence along the way. The circumstances have not changed much since arriving in Indiana. In 2020, the prison gained national press when the Washington Post reported a beating death. 

Lira had to cancel his first phone call with High Times in late July due to a lockdown in which a prisoner was stabbed. He did not have any involvement in the incident. 

Little family interaction has occurred during his sentence. Over Lira’s 17 years of incarceration, he recalls only six or seven visits, citing the extended distance from his family in south Texas. During Tina’s 11 years in prison, Ismael would tell family and friends to visit her instead. 

“I wanted her to have somebody to see,” he stated. He added, “I wanted my family to be there for her.” 

The Liras would remain together through Tina’s sentence. Four years ago, however, they decided to separate. “It’s hard to have a relationship in prison,” he said. 

Rising Above And Hoping For A Second Chance

The end of their marriage had not changed Lira’s commitment to his wife before he was sentenced. They agreed not to let the system change them as it does for countless individuals. 

The now 44-year-old Lira’s dedication to that commitment is exemplified through a commitment to education and self-improvement. To date, he’s completed over 70 programs focused on personal and professional development. He’s completed two apprenticeship programs and studied urban and industrial pest management through Purdue University during the spring 2020 semester. 

Lira has earned glowing praise from unit counselors and advocates like Amy Povah, a former non-violent drug war prisoner turned advocate. She now runs the organization CAN-DO Foundation, which seeks clemency for people like Lira. 

Povah recently started a Change.org petition for Lira’s clemency, hoping that he can receive clemency after failing to do so with Presidents Obama and Trump. 

“Ismael is one of the most deserving pot prisoners I know who should be home,” Povah told High Times. 

Povah said she prays that the Biden administration “lives up to its promise to free all cannabis prisoners.” She added, “It’s a rather small category of individuals who are rotting in prison while others, including former speaker of the house John Boehner, rake in big bucks.”

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