Habitual Offender Gets 40 Years for Growing Marijuana
May 30th, 2008 by Joe Burgess
This photo of an automobile glove box containing cash and a bag of marijuana was a part of the state’s evidence in the conviction of Shelton Wormley, Thursday evening, for the charges of Possession of Marijuana with Intent to Deliver and Manufacture of Marijuana.
The Drug Task Force had been compiling information, when another arrest linked Worlmey to the sale of marijuana. In August of 2007, an arrest warrant was issued, and served on his residence.
Inside of the house, processed pot, as well as plants, were found, along with a gun and money.
Wormley was also charged with simultaneous possession of a gun and drugs, which was dismissed from the bench; being a felon in possession of a firearm, which the jury found him not guilty of; and, possession of drug paraphernalia, which the jury found him guilty of, but was included into the “manufacturing” sentence.
Wormley had previously been convicted of 2 felonies, and was charged with being a “habitual offender” for the current charges.
The jury of 9 women and 3 men sentenced Wormley to 2 consecutive sentences of 20 years each for the the “intent” and “manufacturing” charges.
A 40 year sentence will mean that Wormley will likely spend between 6-7 years in the Dept. of Correction, before becoming eligible for parole.
Circuit Judge Sam Pope, responded to Wormley’s comments at the end of day about that he started out as a marijuana addict, by telling Wormley “you’re creating the same kind of victim that you used to be.”
Wormley also forfeited ownership of the 1995 Mustang (glove box shown above) which Judge Pope found to have been used in the sale of drugs.
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Okay, I understand drugs are bad and should be taken off the streets. Don’t get me wrong, I am totally against drugs and drug pushers. What I DO NOT UNDERSTAND is why this guy gets 40 years and the guy that TRAPPED a young child in the bathroom of a church and had a PREVIOUS RECORD gets less than a month.
Seems like the legal system should want to prosecute those more severely, yet a judge and a jury let him off with less than a slap on the wrist. Why is that?
I believe the drug dealer recieved a just sentence, but a man that has hurt children is allowed to breathe free air.
Justice is not balanced here.
I agree 100% percent with what Anna said that is crazy how our legal system works and is only getting worse!!!!!
You guys need to see the bigger picture here. This guy got 40 years for being a habitual offender. We don’t know what other two felonies he had been convicted of. It could have been something alot worse than selling drugs. So keep that in mind. Also, those of us who know anything about marijuana, know that this is a gateway drug. It opens the door to everything from Crack-Cocaine use to illegal prescription drug use. Which is
more prevalent in this area than marijuana has ever been. We all know someone that’s an addict. Go ask him or her what drug they started out on. I can promise you, it was probably marijuana. So, as far as I am concerned, he got just what he deserved. At least we don’t have to worry about whose kid he’s selling marijuana to now.
I disagree with copgirl. It seems to me that “those of us” are just a bunch of people who probably have to deal with those who have addictive personalities who will abuse any thing, whether it is any white powder to alcohol to pot. The high one gets from pot is not the same high from cocaine or crack. Personal experience tells me that those who like the high pot gives really don’t like the cocaine high or the rush of meth. I have known cops who have told me that they would rather deal with someone who has been smoking dope rather than someone who has been drinking or snorting any white powder. Don’t get me wrong, pot can be a seductive drug. It makes people lazy and uninspired and that is why it should not be legalized. It creates a very dangerous driver. But I don’t believe it should be made out to be the evil drug some try to make it out to be. A lot of people I know and knew like to smoke it for their own reasons, but it didn’t lead them to any other drug to abuse. They just like the way pot makes them feel when they want to relax.
Pot isnt as bad as alcohol in many ways but it is definately a gateway drug. Yes, its true that there are many people who smoke marijuana who did not move on to harder drugs, but there are significantly more that did use marijuana and did move on to harder drugs if only to experiment further and stop.
And yes, 99 times out of a 100 law enforcement would rather deal with a pot smoker who is too stoned to tell you their name than a drunk who wants to fight.
Ok first of all, if marijuana is a gateway drug then alcohol is a gateway drug and so are cigarettes. The whole idea that ganja is a gateway drug started around the 1940s. If you look at the history of the U.S. governments war on drugs you will notice that their propaganda campaign has constantly changed since its beginning. Each targeted all its efforts(t.v. & radio ads, literature, its influence in mainstream entertainment) to portay its intended message. First, in the early 1900s that message was that “smoking pot turns you into a bloodthirsty derranged killer”. Into the ’20s & ’30s it changed to “smoking pot makes you act violently, transforms you into a heartless criminal, and after a short period of usage makes you go totally clinically insane”, as portrayed in the 1937 propaganda film “Reefer Madness”. In the forties they started using “If you smoke it, you’ll become addicted to herion!”, and thus the “gateway drug” label for marijuana was born. Eventually each propaganda claim would be scientifically proven to be totally false, and they would create another, many even contradict the eachother.
I am so sick of hearing ignorant and naive people refer to marijuana as something physically addictive and controlling of peoples minds and bodies. Marijuana is a good thing. A gift from God. A beautiful, inspiring, medicinal herb. It absolutely baffles me to hear people who know nothing about marijuana talk about it in a way that describes it as being just like crack or heroin or any other horrible man made chemical substance that destroys life.
Do yourself a favor. After reading this do some research. Some legitimate research from unbiased sources and you will see that marijuana is not this life destroying evil that some people (and the federal government) have made it out to be, but a life enriching, beautiful good thing that has helped many people in many ways, even more than just as prescribed medically.
Marijuana is not a gateway drug, it cannot be overdosed, and it is not physically addictive. Think for yourself, research. Dont just believe something because certain people told you it was true.
Also, there is no such thing as “a pot smoker who is too stoned to tell you their name”. Thats another thing that totally baffles me, how people put the effects of alchohol on pot. For example, marijuana does not throw your judgment out the window like alchohol does, if anything it makes you more careful, and more aware, or for some, slightly “paranoid”.
Giving someone forty years in jail for possision of marijana is crimminal in it self! Lots of people peddle small amounts of marijuana big deal. I could see him getting a few months even a year, but forty years!