Weldon Angelos

Sentence:  55 years
Offense:  3 counts of possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime; 13 additional drug, firearm, and money laundering charges
Priors:  Convicted for the possession of a handgun as a juvenile and received 3 months probation   
Year sentenced:  2004
Age at sentencing: 25 
Projected release date:  Oct. 2, 2051 
  
   By the time Weldon was 23, he had started a family with his childhood sweetheart and launched a successful career. The founder of Utah-based rap label, Extravagant Records, Weldon was nationally recognized as an ‘up and coming’ entrepreneur in the music industry. He wrote and produced songs with acclaimed artists such as Snoop Dog.

    Between May and June of 2002, police in Salt Lake City set-up a series of controlled buys from Weldon, whom they suspected was a member of the street gang Varrio Loco Town. Police arranged for an acquaintance of Weldon’s to act as a confidential informant (CI), hoping to prove Weldon’s involvement in trafficking large amounts of marijuana.  Through controlled buys, the CI purchased ½ pound of marijuana from Weldon on two separate occasions.  According to the CI, a firearm was visible in Weldon’s car during the first controlled buy. During the second controlled buy, the CI alleged that Weldon was wearing an ankle holster holding a firearm.  When subsequent searches of Weldon’s home were conducted in November of 2003, police found additional guns as well as drug paraphernalia and other evidence that officers claimed indicated he was involved in drug trafficking and money laundering. 
  
   Weldon was indicted on 20 charges, including weapons possession, drug trafficking, and money laundering that mandated a minimum sentence of 105 years.  At trial, the jury convicted Weldon of 13 various drug, firearm, and money laundering charges as well as three counts of possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime. Two of these three firearm charges resulted from the gun he allegedly carried during the buys with the CI and the third count resulted from a handgun found in a bag containing $19,000 in cash that police discovered when searching his home.  Although one charge was dismissed and he was acquitted of three others, Weldon was sentenced to 55 years. *See below for further sentencing breakdown 
  
  Weldon’s sentencing provoked unprecedented public outrage. 29 former judges and prosecutors filed a ‘friend of the court’ brief beseeching Weldon’s sentencing judge to declare the sentence unconstitutional.  At sentencing, Judge Paul G. Cassell called Weldon’s punishment “unjust, cruel, and even irrational,” comparing it to the much shorter federal sentences imposed on repeat child rapists and airplane hijackers. Judge Cassell wrote a 67-page opinion urging President Bush to commute Weldon’s sentence to 18 years or less.  Unfortunately, none of these efforts suceeded and Weldon is serving the first decade of his 55-year sentence. 
  
   Weldon is currently imprisoned in Southern California.  His immediate family is planning on relocating from Utah to make communication and visitation more feasible.  Despite health issues, Weldon has taken classes in computers, psychology, philosophy, public speaking, and history, and has completed the Dental Laboratory Manager program. Weldon’s relationship with his wife suffered as a result of his sentencing and the two are no longer together.  His children, only five and six at the time of his sentencing, are growing up without their father.
 
 
*Weldon received a 5-year mandatory sentence for the first charge of possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime, a consecutive 25-year sentence for the second, and another consecutive 25-year sentence for the third.  Each of these firearms charges taken separately would have required a 5-year sentence. With a two-point firearm enhancement, Weldon’s adjusted guideline level for the 13 additional charges was 28, which carries a mandatory sentence of 78-97 months.  This sentence is to be served concurrently to the 55-year firearm sentence. 
  
 Compiled from PSR and inmate information 6/28/05 BA; updated 2/22/07 MMG edited AP 10/3/08

 

Update (9/15/08): Read about Weldon Angelos's appeal in the Salt Lake City Tribune.  http://www.sltrib.com/News/ci_10469683