Drake, other celebs sign on to Utahn’s letter calling for Biden to pardon non-violent marijuana offenses

"No one should be locked up in federal prison for marijuana," said the letter sent to President Biden and signed by Drake. Photo: Chris Liverani

WASHINGTON — Weldon Angelos, the founder of Utah-based rap label Extravagant Records, was considered an up-and-coming musician in the early aughts.

He wrote and produced songs with Snoop Dogg and other artists.

In the summer of 2002, Salt Lake City police set up a series of controlled buys of marijuana from Weldon. They believed that he was a member of a gang called Varrio Loco Town.

Using a confidential informant, they purchased a half-a-pound of marijuana from Weldon on two separate occasions.

In late 2003, police decided to search Weldon’s home and found guns, drug paraphernalia, and other evidence that officers claimed indicated his involvement in drug trafficking and money laundering.

He was given a mandatory minimum sentence of 55 years in federal prison. The judge who sentenced him disagreed with the ruling, calling it “unjust, cruel, and even irrational.”

Thanks to a pardon by President Trump, Angelos only served 12 years.

Now that he is free, he is using his time to fight for those in a similar position.

Angelos recently authored a letter to President Biden calling for an unconditional pardon to “all persons subject to federal criminal or civil enforcement on the basis of non-violent marijuana offenses.”

“Enough is enough. No one should be locked up in federal prison for marijuana. No one should continue to bear the scarlet letter of a federal conviction for marijuana offenses,” Angelos’ letter said.

“Whatever one thinks of other drugs and other defendants, incarcerating marijuana offenders in federal prisons is a misuse of our nation’s resources and grossly hypocritical, given that a clear majority of Americans oppose marijuana prohibition and about half admit to using the drug during their lifetime,” the letter said. “It also stands against the arc of history and the principle of federalism: nearly three-quarters of the states have now abandoned the federal government’s blanket criminal ban in favor of safe, regulated legal access to marijuana for adults and/or those with qualifying medical conditions.”

You can read the full letter here.