Pot Conviction Gets Cornell Hood II A Life Sentence

**TheMorningStar** · May 11th, 2011, 12:01 PM

State Judge Raymond S. Childress punished Hood under Louisiana's repeat-offender law in his courtroom in Covington on Thursday. A jury on Feb. 15 found the defendant guilty of attempting to possess and distribute marijuana at his Slidell home, court records show.
Hood moved from eastern New Orleans to the Slidell area after he admitted to separate charges of distribution of marijuana and possession with intent to distribute marijuana on Dec. 18, 2009, in Orleans Parish Criminal District Court. He received a suspended five-year prison sentence and five years' of probation for each -- which was precisely the same penalty he got in that court after pleading guilty to possessing and intending to distribute marijuana on Feb. 22, 2005.
When Hood switched homes, he also requested a new probation officer based in St. Tammany. Authorities granted the wish, and the officer, Dustin Munlin, drove to Hood's place for a routine visit on Sept. 27, 2010.
Munlin found nearly two pounds of pot throughout the house, according to court records. He alerted Sheriff's Office deputies. They arrested Hood, who apparently shared the King's Point house with his mother and young son.
Prosecutors later charged him with one count of possession with intent to distribute marijuana.
At Hood's one-day trial, the evidence presented by the prosecution included a digital scale and about a dozen bags that had contained marijuana before being seized from the house, testimony showed. Deputies also found $1,600 in cash and a student-loan application with Hood's name on it inside of a night stand.
Jurors deliberated for less than two hours and convicted Hood of a reduced charge, which usually carries no more than 15 years' imprisonment. Assistant District Attorney Nick Noriea Jr. then used Hood's past convictions on Thursday to argue that he was a career criminal worthy of a severe punishment.
Drug offenders in the state are subject to life imprisonment after being convicted three or more times of a crime that carries a sentence exceeding 10 years.

http://www.nola.com/crime/index.ssf/...iction_ge.html

**VXIII** · May 11th, 2011, 03:52 PM

He can get life for marijuana which some people in CA and Az can legally sell, and baby raper or murderer will get 10 years or less sometimes...

**Mommyof2** · May 11th, 2011, 05:18 PM

How sad.. Now I don't think dealing drugs is the smartest career choice but IMO it is not something you should go away for life for! Dude should have just moved up here and opened a compassion club lol.

**AngelFire** · May 11th, 2011, 05:21 PM

Life for Pot?? Are they all insane? How about the baby rapers,killers, beaters, just human trash... why do they get the "get out of jail card" and an offense such as pot gets to spend life in the pokey?

Move to my town where we have a Pot Collective in almost every corner.

**Toxic** · May 11th, 2011, 05:32 PM

What the fuck? our system is royally fucked

Weed should be legal...i dont even smoke it and I think that

**Nell** · May 11th, 2011, 05:51 PM

While weed should be legal and a life sentence is silly, maybe the man shouldn't continuously break the law in the same damn way. Maybe get a real job? Or a storage shed and keep his two pounds of weed there? That is a massive amount of weed.

**AngelFire** · May 11th, 2011, 06:54 PM

Fucker needs to move to California. Hell here even the old people are blazing it up. The only life sentence you get will be self imposed. After a couple of blunts, no one will want to leave their home

**Robynne** · May 11th, 2011, 06:56 PM

While I realize that he continuously broke the law. It fucking marijuana. Geez, Man. It just amazes me that the laws are so harsh for things like pot, but you can beat a child to death, dump your newborn baby in a lake, rape and kill, etc., and you get a slap on the wrist.