Timothy L. Tyler

For the British military officer with the same name, see Timothy Tyler.

Timothy Leonard Tyler (born 1968) is an American sentenced to life in prison for possession and distribution of LSD.

Timothy Leonard Tyler #99672-012

In August 2016, after serving 22 years behind bars, Tyler was granted clemency.[1]

Background

He was raised in Connecticut and Florida, where he attended Lakewood Senior High School, graduating in 1986. His parents were divorced and he was physically and emotionally abused by his stepfather. He suffered from depression as a child. He had episodes that resulted in at least six emergency mental health hospitalizations.[2][3][4]

After graduation, he toured the country attending Grateful Dead concerts. He sold fried dough, fruit smoothies, beer and sodas. He consumed and sold marijuana and LSD. He was first arrested in Panama City, Florida for LSD possession and released on his own recognizance. A second arrest occurred that resulted in three years of probation. Tyler resumed touring with the Grateful Dead and sent LSD to a friend who was arrested for marijuana possession who turned into a confidential informant for the DEA.[2][5] During a two-month period, this informant, working with the DEA, asked Tyler to mail him LSD five times, which Tyler did. Tyler sent the package to his father's address, implicating him.[3]

Sentencing

According to a pre-sentencing memorandum, Tyler was charged with selling 13,000 hits of acid, found on 13 sheets of paper and equivalent to several grams of liquid. Tyler pleaded guilty to drug distribution. Tyler netted about $3,000 from "a very loosely woven conspiracy" that involved selling acid to "friends, family and business acquaintances," according to the memo prepared by his probation officer.[3]

In 1992, at age 24, he was sentenced to life in prison without parole because his two prior drug convictions (for which he did not serve prison time) triggered the federal three-strikes law.[3][4] The judge could not consider Tyler’s drug addiction, lack of violent conduct, mental health issues, or youth when sentencing.

As part of the conspiracy, Tyler's father received a ten-year sentence and died in prison.[4] His friend who worked as a confidential informant served ten years.[3][5]

Life in prison

Tyler was incarcerated in United States Penitentiary, Canaan in Pennsylvania and as of 2016 is held in FCI Jesup.[6] Because of prison prohibitions against music, Tyler went 20 years from the time of his initial arrest without listening to any Grateful Dead music, except what his sister could play for him in the limited phone time he was allocated. In 2012, inmates were permitted to purchase digital music players.[3][4]

Tyler, who had girlfriends before his incarceration, now identifies as bisexual; he began to engage in sexual activity with men while in prison in search of companionship.[3][4] Tyler pitches on a prison softball team, the Yankees, and plays handball.[4]

In 2013, Senator Rand Paul has highlighted Tyler's case, writing that he "should have been punished for selling drugs, but he shouldn’t have to spend the rest of his life in prison for it. Today, Timothy is 45 and will likely spend the rest of his life behind bars, not because a judge thought it was a proper punishment, but because an arbitrary federal law demanded it."[7]

More than 400,000 people have signed a petition on Change.org calling on President Obama to grant Tyler clemency.[8]

In August 2016, Tyler was granted clemency by President Barack Obama.[1]

References

  1. 1 2 "Grateful Dead Fan Timothy Tyler Has Been Granted Clemency By President Barack Obama". 2016-08-30. Retrieved 2016-08-30.
  2. 1 2 "Tim's Story". Drug War Prisoners. Retrieved 7 November 2013.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Silvestrini, Elaine (2013-07-29). "Mandatory minimums keep many nonviolent people behind bars". Tampa Tribute. Retrieved 2013-11-14.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Fuchs, Erin (2013-07-29). "The Heartbreaking Story Of A Harmless Deadhead Sentenced To Die In Prison". Business Insider. Retrieved 2013-11-14.
  5. 1 2 Gill, Molly (2013-02-15). "Op-Ed: Snitching Shouldn't Be Required for a Fair Sentence". Takepart.com. Retrieved 2013-11-14.
  6. ↑ "Inmate locator, 99672-012". bop.gov. Bureau of Prisons. 4 February 2016. Retrieved 4 February 2016. TIMOTHY L TYLER Located at: Jesup FCI Release Date: LIFE
  7. ↑ Paul, Rand (2013-08-16). "PAUL: The madness of mandatory minimums". The Washington Times. Retrieved 2013-11-14.
  8. ↑ Bruer, Wesley (2015-05-14). "Sentenced to life in prison, man hopes new clemency rules will get him out". CNN. Retrieved 2015-09-14.
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