A man named Allen Russell had his life sentence upheld by a Mississippi court in relation to a marijuana charge in 2017. Police reportedly took five bags of marijuana from Russell when he was arrested, and it was noted that two of the bags had 1.5 ounces of weed in them.

According to the Associated Press, state law allows for a life sentence without parole if a person spent a year in prison on two separate felonies. One of the offenses have to be a violent one in order for the law to be enacted. The state law for marijuana notes that possession of weed between 1.05 and 8.8 ounces only carries a sentence of up to three years, a $3,000 fine, or both.

Despite the low-level crime, Russell was previously convicted on two home burglary charges and reportedly spent two years in prison for unlawful possession of a firearm. Because of that, his life sentence was upheld due to his “habitual offender” status related to past incidents he was arrested for.

source: AP