A disabled Army veteran and a Purple Heart recipient is facing five years behind bars after being caught in possession of medical marijuana that he had been using to treat his PTSD and brain injury.
33-year-old Sean Worsley from Arizona, who served in the Army for five years, is an Iraq War veteran who was visiting his family in North Carolina together with his wife Eboni back in 2016.
As the couple stopped to fuel up at a gas station in Gordo, Alabama, they were approached by a police officer who told them they were violating noise ordinance by playing loud music and asked them if he could search their vehicle.
Knowing that his medical marijuana was prescribed by a doctor back in Arizona, Worsley agreed to the search without a doubt.
As Officer Carl Abramo searched the couple’s vehicle, he came across the marijuana along with a pipe and some alcohol.
While Mr. Worsley told the officer that the marijuana was prescribed by a doctor back in Arizona, Abramo “explained to him that Alabama did not have medical marijuana” according to an Alabama Appleseed Center for Law and Justice report.
Following the exchange of words, Worsley was arrested for illegal possession of marijuana due to medical marijuana not being legalized in Alabama as it is in Arizona.
According to the reports, Worsley was prescribed marijuana after being recognized as “totally and permanently disabled due solely to service-connected disabilities” including depression, PTSD, and back pain.
After the couple was arrested, they were shortly released on bond. Following their return to Arizona, they were struggling with their lives and eventually decided to try their luck in Nevada where they lived in peace for a year before the judge revoked their bonds and forced them to return to Alabama.
Appearing in the court, Eboni and Sean were separated despite the wife’s pleas to stay by her husband’s side due to his condition.
Under the threat that his wife would be facing the same charges as him, Sean signed a plea agreement and was later sentenced to 60 months of probation in Arizona.
After being forced to leave their Nevada home, the couple struggled to get back on their feet in Arizona and eventually ended up homeless whereas Eboni was in need of heart surgery.
Years later, in early 2020, Sean was pulled over by the police in Arizona and opened up about his worries to the officers.
According to the Alabama Appleseed Center for Law and Justice report, Eboni confirmed that her husband told the cops everything about his health condition, “the expired card,” and “the outstanding warrant from Alabama.” The officers, however, allegedly reassured the couple and told them not to worry because “Alabama would never extradite him over a little marijuana.”
After calling the authorities to confirm that everything’s okay, the couple was told that Sean should return to Pickens County where he was originally arrested back in 2016.
Following the grim news, Sean escaped and was later arrested, jailed, and eventually transported to Pickens County jail.
Shortly after his transfer, Sean also learned that his probation has been revoked whereas a judge sentenced him to 60 months in the Alabama Department of Corrections.
Following the sentencing, Sean’s family has been working on an appeal whereas Eboni has started a fundraiser on GoFundMe to pay for the veteran’s legal fees.
Replaced!