Longest-serving marijuana inmate in US released from Florida prison

For the first time in more than 31 years, Richard DeLisi will be able to spend Christmas with family members.

DeLisi, described as the longest-serving inmate for nonviolent marijuana crimes in the nation, walked out of South Bay Correctional Facility in Palm Beach County on Tuesday morning as a free man. Sentenced in 1989 to a 90-year term in a Polk County courtroom, DeLisi left prison ahead of his scheduled June 2022 release.

“It actually feels like 10 times better than wonderful,” DeLisi, 71, told The Ledger by phone. “It was so unjust what they did to me. I just hope that I can help other people that are in the same situation.”

Previously:Release sought for country’s longest-serving marijuana convict sentenced in Polk

Release granted:Richard DeLisi, longest-serving pot inmate in US, to get early freedom

Department of Corrections: Richard DeLisi could be free as early as Dec. 4

DeLisi and his older brother, Ted DeLisi, were convicted in 1989 of trafficking in cannabis, conspiracy to traffic in cannabis and a violation of the Racketeer Influenced Corrupt Organization (RICO) Act. Judge Dennis Maloney sentenced both brothers to three consecutive 30-year sentences, well beyond the recommendations in judicial guidelines.

The Last Prisoner Project, a nonprofit that advocates for people serving long sentences for nonviolent, cannabis-related crimes, championed DeLisi’s cause…