DENPASAR, BALI (Reuters): An Indonesian court on Friday sentenced Australian beauty therapist Schapelle Corby to 20 years in jail for trying to smuggle 4.1 kg (9 lb) of marijuana into Bali…
Prosecutors had demanded life in jail for Corby, 27, who has repeatedly argued the drugs found by airport officials in her unlocked bag on the famous holiday island last year were not hers and that they were planted.
Twenty years for marijuana smuggling. And nine pounds is a lot of weed. (That’s 144 ounces, or a wholesale street value of $43,200, or $57,600 retail*) Of course, I believe that marijuana should be legal, taxed, and regulated, and no one should be imprisoned for its possession, use, or delivery.
But, that being said, marijuana is illegal nearly everywhere worldwide, and Indonesia has some of the most draconian drug laws on the planet. This has been a huge, nationwide story of Runaway Bride proportions in Australia. Most people in the country are stunned that the young woman would receive such a harsh sentence. And about 92% of Australians believe she is innocent. Her defense was that without her knowledge her unlocked bag was used enroute by airline employees involved in a smuggling operation. The smugglers failed to remove the weed from her bag and she was caught with it. The New Zealand Herald reports…
…the judges made it clear they did not accept Corby’s defence that persons unknown had packed the cannabis into her bag after it had been accepted by Qantas staff, probably as part of a domestic Australian smuggling operation.
The evidence of John Ford, the Victorian prisoner flown to Bali to relate an overheard conversation of two other prisoners about the bungled smuggling attempt, carried no weight against the direct evidence of the cannabis found in a bag Corby admitted was hers.
Wow. You gotta hand it to the Indonesian criminal justice system, they don’t fool around. If you’re caught committing a heinous crime, you’re going to do some hard time. What? What’s that coming across my Reuters news wire…
JAKARTA, May 16 (Reuters) – An Indonesian high court has upheld a two-and-a-half year sentence handed to Muslim cleric Abu Bakar Bashir for his role in the 2002 Bali [nightclub bombing] blasts that killed 202 people, an official said on Monday.
Everyone clear on this?
Muslim terrorist bomber, killed 202 people, undeniably guilty = 30 months.
Young pretty beautician, smuggled 9lbs of marijuana, likely innocent = 240 months.
See, the United States isn’t the worst offender when it comes to disparate sentences between drug offenses and violent offenses! Of course, our record ain’t that great, either…
Average Federal Sentence (data from 2000)
Offense Mean Median
All Offenses 56.8 months 33.0 months
All Felonies 58.0 months 36.0 months
Violent Felonies 63.0 months
Drug Felonies 75.6 months 55.0 months
Property Felony - Fraud 22.5 months 14.0 months
Property Felony - Other 33.4 months 18.0 months
Public Order Felony - Regulatory 28.0 months 15.0 months
Public Order Felony - Other 46.5 months 30.0 months
Misdemeanors 10.3 months 6.0 months
* By wholesale, I mean your average cannabis consumer purchasing a one-ounce quantity at $300/oz. Retail means 1/8th-ounce purchases at $50/eighth. Ditchweed costs less. Better marijuana costs more. Purchases in larger bulk cost less. Sometimes you can get “friend” pricing. Your results may vary. Which is why I always distrust any news report claiming the “street value” of seized drugs — there is no fixed price for black market products and estimates are bound to have huge disparities.
