Weldon Angelos case

The son of an immigrant, Weldon Angelos worked as a music producer[1] with musicians such as Snoop Dogg and Tupac Shakur, and was accused of selling marijuana to a police informant on several occasions worth a total of $350.

On 29 April 2009, a federal judge denied a request by Angelos for a new trial by rejecting a claim that his trial attorney mishandled plea negotiations with the federal prosecutor, U.S. District Judge Tena Campbell ruled that attorney Jerome Mooney had provided Angelos with "competent and thorough" legal help.

[9] The Constitution Project wrote a letter, signed by 113 celebrities, advocates, former judges and prosecutors, and business leaders, to Obama urging him to commute Angelos' sentence.

For example, in a similar case, Michael Prikakis, like Angelos, was induced by a paid informant to make three drug sales.

The judge Vinson later wrote that the jury would have been shocked to learn of the stacked sentence: "I think they would rise up in indignation, as anybody else would, if they know about how this law is being applied and construed in circumstances such as this, which is essentially one underlying offense.

[14] The Washington Post quoted Angelos' attorney, Mark Osler, explaining "After three and half years of inaction on Weldon's clemency petition, he is free because of the fair and good action of a prosecutor.