some people here are aware of the fact that I was recently incarcerated in a Federal institution. However I would like to point out that this was not due to any violence inflicted upon others, it was not due to any heinous crime committed against society. And it did not come about out of selfish greed or hatred toward the world but rather necessity at the time. Let's go back to several years ago. I moved to Florida to retire from a lifestyle at risk from the streets. I left California to come here to live a normal life in peace. It was being achieved for quite a while I had met someone at the time and together we were building a household and a fairly happy home. They went through several bouts unfortunately of unemployment, some of which were due to things like ageism and discrimination, but we always try to make the best of it and push through. Finally this person was diagnosed with a life-threatening sickness and lost their job. There was no compensation there was no empathy or help available. Being a heart patient at the time and having a brand new mortgage, I could not go back to the street because it would literally mean a death sentence for us both and being on one income it was not enough to support both of us and look after her sickness. So I turned to a moderate means of funding myself in supplement. I purposely picked the least harmful way to go about this. Cannabis is a lot less harmful alternative to things like cocaine heroin or methamphetamine along with its helpful attributes to not only cancer patients PTSD and other forms of disease seemed a logical alternative. So I began to farm. Most people were on board with this but there was a certain element that did not like the fact that I overcame my adversity, out of greed they sent a young man to infiltrate my home and work environment. Once he did his damage however instead of hurting him I just put the word out. Out of retaliation for exposure they sent a detective from the same small town who I'm certain is related to him in some kind of way to put me out of business once and for all. After repeated harassment and repeated arrest attempts that failed, the only thing that they could incarcerate me for was the non-violent possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. I was not using it to harm others nor was I even openly brandishing it. It was in the trunk of my vehicle on the way home from private property on which I had gone to for a couple of days to hunt to have a few drinks and unwind because of the stress of my entire situation. It was because the barrel on the weapon was 1.5 in too short that it became a federal case and I faced a maximum of 7 to 10 years. For that offense alone. Thankfully when it came down to my sentencing the judge read my record and realized that I am not an evil individual that I was simply faced with very hard circumstances and made the only choice that I could at the time to the best of my abilities. They also acknowledged my service record as well thus being taken into account I was given a total of 36 months, and being that the county had kept me in jail without a hearing for over a year I was given a substantial amount of credit up front. So yes being involved in certain things I guess one could say that I was on the other side of the law, but I want to show you how easy it is to fall into that category and why blanket labels in judgments are not fair. Because not everyone who carries a gun news is it for evil purposes nor everyone who works in certain industries is by character a criminal. Misconceptions in fear ruin our society, and put decent individuals every day through life-changing and life ruining experiences. I am just grateful that I have the inner strength in the resources to overcome these losses and rebuild my life on a solid foundation. And now I intend to come back better and stronger than ever to survive against the odds, to become the exception rather than the rule. Achieve my retirement and achieve my dreams. And I will let nothing stand in my way
