Charleston lost a gem recently, a flawed one for sure, but one of immense worth. I’m talking about former Charleston High School and West Virginia University basketball star Levi Phillips. Levi thrilled Mountain Lion and Mountaineer basketball fans in the late 1960s and early ’70s.
Years later, drug addiction racked his brain and world, and he had great difficulty regaining control of his life. In fact, Levi was convicted in federal court on three separate counts of distributing a controlled substance.
Facing a lengthy sentence, a federal prosecutor and a federal judge took a chance on him and significantly reduced his time. Levi took advantage of the break and for the rest of his life was a positive influence in our city, working and volunteering for many charitable organizations.
For many years, he encouraged at-risk youth and coached and provided tutoring to hundreds of boys participating in AAU basketball. He also was at home and available to be a loving husband, father, grandfather and brother to his family. He and his wife sometimes allowed children going through family crises to stay with them temporarily.
Levi touched many lives with his infectious smile, big heart and wonderful sense of humor. The way he turned the tragic portion of his life into triumph was an inspiration and a story that needs to be told to help others restore their broken lives and families.
Under a recent expansion of the application of the state recidivist statute by both the state Supreme Court and our Legislature, Levi’s three convictions today would have landed him a life sentence under what’s often referred to as the “three strikes and you’re out” law.
Before these changes, it was the law in West Virginia that two of the three felony convictions had to be crimes of violence or felonies committed with a firearm before the recidivist statute could apply. They also made the possession of a firearm by a convicted felon a qualifying crime of violence, despite the fact the federal sentencing guidelines specifically provide that the crime of possession alone by a convicted felon is not a crime of violence.
The opioid crisis in West Virginia over the years has turned many users into dealers to support their habit. Some struggle for years to get their lives back.
Repeat nonviolent drug dealers do not require life sentences. This expansion of the recidivist law will result in unnecessarily harsh sentences for nonviolent criminals.
For example, say your neighbor’s 18-year-old kid sells some marijuana and gets busted for drug distribution. Then he steals a cell phone and gets convicted of grand larceny. Ten years later, he gets pulled over on some traffic violation and the police find a gun. He’s a convicted felon with a gun. He’s looking at a life sentence. Does that make sense?
How many good men, how many Levi Phillips-types, who are remorseful, want to be good providers and good dads, are rotting in American prisons with excessive sentences?
We all hate what bad drugs do to people, but for 40 years, we have tried to deter people from dealing drugs by imposing lengthy sentences. Unfortunately, we have failed miserably, creating a prison industry, bankrupting our economies and creating one of the most shameful conditions in America today.
As a criminal defense attorney, I have seen that many folks believe America is soft on crime until they have a loved one in trouble. Then they can’t believe how severe the penalties are. What Americans don’t realize is we have 4.25% of the world’s population and, shamefully, roughly 20% of the world’s prison population, according to the United Kingdom’s Institute for Crime and Justice Policy Research.
Moreover, expanding the recidivist statute naturally will increase the already disparate number of African Americans receiving life sentences, as they have been prosecuted for drug offenses in disparate numbers historically. Long sentences destroy hope and families.
Hence, we will ask the Legislature to pass what we are calling the “Levi Phillips Amendment,” which would stipulate that life sentences could be imposed under the recidivist statute only in cases where two of the three felonies were violent or involved the presence of a gun in the commission of the crime.
If we don’t pass such an amendment, judges will have no discretion to give people like Levi Phillips another chance at redemption.
