When Jay-Z speaks, everyone listens.
The music moguls latest quarrel is with the Federal Government for refusing to release to a man who's served 14 years for marijuana. According to reports, the inmate is being held due to a situation regarding a leftover prison meal. Hov's legal team has been working for the release of 56-year old Valon Vailes who was found guilty by a jury in 2007 for conspiring to possess with the intent to distribute more than one ton of marijuana from 2003 to 2007.
Vailes, who was sentenced to 20 years behind bars, wrote a letter to Jay-Z with the hopes that the star could assist him and getting his sentenced reduced. However, Hov's legal team says the Federal Government isn't budging on Vailes sentence, due to some "ticky-tac prison offenses". Alex Spiro, an attorney for Jay-Z's team, says although Vailes meets all the criteria for an early release, him prosecutors won't allow it because Vailes reportedly snuck some leftover chicken from the prison mess hall to his cell. Spiro says Vailes is also getting reprimanded for using a piece of his prison uniform as "workout equipment."
Hov's legal team argues that Vailes has been a model inmate in every way possible, including earning his GED during his time behind bars. The 56-year old also has a mentally ill brother at home who needs a caretaker, after Vailes mother passed away in 2020. In the letter that Valon wrote to Jay-Z from New York’s Otisville Correctional Facility back in February, he shared:
"This correspondence is a plea to ask for your help with the intent to campaign for my clemency. 13 and a half years is a long time to be still incarcerated over a substance that has become the ultimate green rush.”
Spiro is asking the judge to reduce Vailes' sentence to time served, and release him as soon as possible. Details on the courts decision are still pending.