Aikens 20 years for possession of 64 grams of crack To receive an equivalent sentence, he would have had to possess nearly 6 1/2 kilos more than 14 pounds of powder cocaine.a longstanding addiction to cocaine ended his baseball career and ultimately led to a 20-year sentence for selling crack cocaine to an undercover officer. But Willie's story is also a tragic one because it illustrates the unjust sentencing and racial disparities between crack and powder cocaine. After being convicted of attempting to purchase cocaine in 1983, Willie was ultimately suspended from playing major league baseball in the United States. He returned to Kansas City, after playing ball in Mexico, but continued to battle his addiction, which was quickly ruining his personal life as it had done his baseball career.
"You can supply a whole neighborhood with 6 1/2 kilos," Aikens said by telephone from prison, where he is in the 13th year of his sentence.
Activists, lawyers and many federal judges say cases such as Aikens' demonstrate the inequity of cocaine sentencing laws and validate the U.S. Sentencing Commission's recent decision to ease prison time guidelines for crack offenders. The new guidelines will apply retroactively to about 19,500 inmates.
Within hours of the decision, Aikens said he was on the telephone with his lawyers, asking them to request a sentence reduction. They calculated that the new guidelines could shave nearly 2 1/2 years off his sentence.
"The disparity, as far as I'm concerned, is totally wrong," said Aikens, a nonviolent offender. "This took me away from my family. My girls were 4 and 5 years old when I was sentenced. Now they're 18 and 19."
Commissioners said it was highly unlikely that judges would free inmates with a violent past
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