Tony Ealy - Michigan
State: Michigan
Sentence: 33-110 years. He must serve at least 16 1/2 years before he is eligible for parole.
Offense: Three counts of Manufacturing, Dealing and Possession of cocaine less than 50 grams; 1 count of Manufacturing, Dealing and Possession of cocaine 50-224 grams; 1 count Manufacturing, Dealing and Possession of cocaine 225-649 grams
Priors: None
Date of Sentencing: 5/11/95
Date of Birth: 9/29/60
Parole Eligibility Date: 5/29/2011
Nature of Offense: Tony began using cocaine in 1994 after he lost his job when his company went out of business. It was his third stint of unemployment in six years. A former coworker introduced him to the drug, and Tony found it easy to buy small amounts of cocaine in his neighborhood. He would sell part of his purchase to friends that used cocaine and use the rest for himself. The amounts could be measured in fractions of a gram and were worth $25-$50.
Police stopped a young woman who was part of Tony’s group of friends. She had a small amount of drugs in her possession, and in exchange for dropping her charges, she cooperated with police. In October 1994, she bought 1/8 gram of cocaine from Tony that was supposedly for her boyfriend, who was an undercover police officer. Over the next six weeks, they made four more transactions, equalling Tony’s five charges. The first three were 1/2 gram, 1 gram and 3 1/2 grams. The fourth was for just over 50 grams and the fifth was for 250 grams. After the fifth sale Tony was arrested.
Tony pled guilty and the judge sentenced him to the mandatory minimum on all five counts. Tony appealed on the basis of entrapment and disproportionate sentencing. Prosecutors stated that it was not entrapment because they made efforts to find Tony’s source. Tony’s lawyer presented evidence showing that police actually spent only three hours during the five transactions trying to identify the source and made no serious attempt to do anything but complete the sales initiated by the police. As part of the entrapment arguments, it was pointed out that Tony had never been involved in these amounts of drugs; in fact, he stated that he had never seen as much as three grams at one time before his involvement with the undercover officer. Tony’s attorney also pointed to the lack of criminal history, a good work history, and strong family support as substantial and compelling reasons why the judge should have departed from the mandatory minimums.
Sentence of others involved: The young woman who cooperated with police after drugs were found in her possession during a traffic stop faced no charges in her case.
Sentence: Tony was convicted of three counts of Manufacturing, Dealing and Possession of less than 50 grams of cocaine (1-20 years), one count of Manufacturing Dealing and Possession of 50-224 grams (10-20 years), and one count of Manufacturing, Dealing and Possession of 225-649 grams (20-30 years). In 2000, the Michigan legislature repealed the mandatory minimum laws for drug offenses, resulting in parole eligibility at half of each of the minimum sentences. Tony must now serve a total of 16 1/2 years before he is eligible for parole. He has served 13 years.
Personal background: Tony was born and raised in the city of Detroit, Michigan. His family consisted of his parents, three brothers, and three sisters. His father supported the family through his job as a truck driver. Tony says he came from a good home with a strong family. After graduating from Pershing High School in 1978, he worked for S & D Warehouse for 12 years before they went out of business. He stayed at his next job at North Detroit General Hospital for two years before they also went out of business, then worked for Met-L-Aid Co. for two more years until they too went out of business. At the time of his arrest Tony was 34 years old and engaged to be married.
In prison Tony has participated in every program available for addict behavior, including Narcotics Anonymous, substance abuse classes, and relapse prevention classes. Tony has also completed a number of vocational classes.
Compiled from prisoner information and Pre-Sentence Report.