Rodney Gardner
Clemency for Rodney Gardner
Rodney's case in the northern district of Texas (4:19-cr-302). His case is striking because he was sentenced to 20 years in prison when he was in his 50s and after running a successful business for many years. He was never accused of committing any violence. Although he did have a drug problem in his youth, he overcame addiction and went on to lead a lawful, productive and successful life.
Sadly, he learned his wife was having an affair and that sent him into a tailspin. He started using drugs again, and that led to his involvement in selling meth. He pleaded guilty and accepted responsibility for his actions.
He was sentenced in Fort Worth in 2020 after being held responsible for about 20,000 kilos of drugs or 22 tons (the weight of a full school bus). This was "ghost dope" that was attributed to him by others who hoped to cut deals with prosecutors.
What is “ghost dope”? “Ghost dope” is uncharged drugs that are pinned on the accused at the sentencing phase. Problem is, there are no actual drugs, nor physical evidence (such as a controlled buys, text messages, or intercepted phone calls). Instead, at the sentencing phase the court can use uncorroborated, untested out-of-court hearsay from highly incentivized drug-dealers-turned-government-witnesses who want to trade the vague hearsay for years off their sentences.
As an example, it works like this. The high-level player is caught in the government’s net. They are looking at a decades-long prison term. So they tell the government that they sold 10 pounds of methamphetamine to someone each month over a three-year period, for a total of 360 pounds.
There is absolutely no actual physical evidence to corroborate the out-of-court accusations—no drugs, no drug ledgers, no surveillance, no phone recordings, no controlled buys. It's just the word of a high-level drug player who wants to use the information—which is impossible to prove or disprove since one cannot disprove evidence that doesn't exist—as currency to buy his (or her) way out of prison.
The cherry on top: the accuser does not have to step foot in the courtroom. That is, the accused is not allowed to question his accuser.
In the end, the defendant pleads guilty, only to learn about this loophole at the sentencing phase.
Many in the legal community have denounced this unfair practice, calling it unconstitutional.
Rodney's 20-year sentence was more than what the leader of the meth distribution ring received, which was about 10 years in prison. His criminal history was in the lowest category. Yet Rodney will be an old man when he gets out.