12/11/20: An Italian Accent Brought Him 90 Years of Bad Luck

Back when he was 40, Richard DeLisi was convicted in Florida of selling marijuana, and was sentenced to 90 years. 

It was 1989, and the typical sentence was more like 12 to 17 years for a nonviolent crime like his. But DeLisi was from Italy by way of New York, with a thick Italian accent, and he thinks the judge took him for a member of a crime family. 

DeLisi served 31 years in prison. On Tuesday, at age 71, he walked out into the world with a generous outlook on life that he got from discovering Christianity behind bars. 

His parents, his wife, and his 23-year-old son had all died, and his daughter had been in a crippling accident. When he came through the gates, though, the rest of his family was waiting. Best of all: His two granddaughters, age 11 and 1. Their father, Rick DeLisi, had been 11 when the elder DeLisi was imprisoned. 

The Last Prisoner Project, which helped with his release, said that DeLisi had had the lengthiest imprisonment of all nonviolent cannabis offenders. 

Whatever is annoying you today seems pretty small in comparison, no? 

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/richard-delisi-florida-prison-release-marijuana-nonviolent-charge-31-years/?fbclid=IwAR3f4DwCA0BCEXzQAEe_Kz3pSIGriSD7liu_EzmxedXuKvz8vwSuKlM0tho