(NewsNation) — A Florida inmate who was sentenced decades ago to 60 years for selling a spoonful of cocaine has petitioned the courts and lawmakers for clemency.
In 1994, Michael Edwards sold the equivalent of a spoonful of cocaine worth less than $850 to an ex-girlfriend. The ex-girlfriend turned the drugs into police as a police informant, and Edwards was arrested.
The former prosecutor who put him away said he believes it’s time Edwards was released.
“Justice has been served,” said Joe D’Alessandro, former Florida state attorney, on NewsNation’s “Banfield” on Friday.
Before heading to trial, Edwards was offered two plea deals, both of which he declined. He was convicted and sentenced to 60 years in a Florida prison.
Edwards wasn’t a first-time offender. This was his third non-violent arrest, all for drugs. Florida’s Three Strikes Law mandates longer sentences for repeat felony offenders, so Edwards received a harsher sentence for his third offense in 1994.
“Oh, no, I never imagined such a thing,” his mother, Alicia Allan, said of the six-decade-long sentence.
He was a drug addict, his sister Mimi Edwards Beach said. But the outcome was still a shock.
“There was an affidavit that the girlfriend turned informant had signed saying that she had lied, so at that point as well, Michael was confident,” Edwards Beach said. “(He thought) ‘why should I concede to or agree to a plea when the witness is saying that she lied?’ And that was the only real evidence that they had against him.”
The ex-girlfriend turned informant died by suicide upon Edwards’ sentencing.
Edwards’ relatives said they have not seen him in person since the pandemic.
“After COVID, we have not even been able to see him except for on a video call for 15 minutes, and that doesn’t really happen very often either, so it’s difficult,” said Edwards’ sister, Mimi Edwards Beach. “It’s taken a real toll on my mom, and especially these last couple of years, getting harder and harder.”
Despite several Florida politicians and members of the clemency board voting in favor of Edwards release, Gov. Ron DeSantis declined to grant clemency.
“When we went to clemency (hearing), we really expected that Michael would be coming home with us, I mean to the point that I packed up a bag of clothes and everything,” Edwards Beach said. “We were confident they would be coming home with us, and we were so excited and that was five years ago.”
The prosecutor on the case has been trying to help Edwards get released for years.
“I became very much aware that he was serving more time than really he should have served,” D’Alessandro said. “I don’t think he should be in prison.”
Edwards, who has served 31 years with 29 left, has also been reaching out to President Donald Trump, although this is a federal case so there’s nothing he can legally do.
“In my whole entire career, I’ve never tried to get somebody’s sentence vacated or commuted or anything except Mr. Edwards,” D’Alessandro said. “He served his time. Justice has been done in this case, and as far as I’m concerned, he shouldn’t be in prison.”