A man serving a life sentence for selling marijuana worth less than $30 is set to be released from prison soon.
Derek Harris, also a military veteran, has already served nine years since his arrest in Louisiana in 2008. He was accused of selling an officer less than one gram of the drug. Initially, Harris was given 15 years prison, but in 2012 he was re-sentenced to life in prison under the Habitual Offender Law, which allows judges to grant stricter sentences on someone who has been charged before.
According to his lawyer, Cormac Boyle, Harris’ release was mutually agreed upon by prosecutors in Vermillion Parish after the Louisiana Supreme Court allowed him to have a new hearing.
Eventually, the state’s supreme court agreed with the veteran’s logic, saying he had "ineffective assistance of counsel at sentencing on post-conviction review,” which was sent back to the trial court.
Boyle also added that Harris had a substance abuse issue when he came back from a 1990 U.S. military operation during the Gulf War.
“His prior offenses were nonviolent and related to his untreated dependency on drugs," Louisiana Supreme Court Justice John Weimer wrote in his opinion.
Harris’ legal team and the Louisiana State Department of Corrections are working to have him out of prison soon. He plans to move closer to his family in Kentucky once released.
Photo: The Promise Justice Initiative, Getty Images