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1 • Thursday, January 19, 2017 - The Independent
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‘It’s as if my feet still haven’t hit the ground’ Trump grants clemency to local man serving life for conspiracy to distribute marijuana
By Mike Sandrolini
FOR THE INDEPENDENT
Craig Cesal, who was sentenced to life in federal prison after being convicted of conspiracy to distribute marijuana in October, 2003, anxiously awaited a phone call from the White House on the final day of Donald Trump’s presidency that would change his life.
On Jan. 18, Cesal got word that the White House wanted the best phone number at which to reach him because Trump was to announce clemencies at noon Jan. 19 … and Cesal was on the list. However, noon came and went. Cesal, 61, waited by the phone the entire day and into the night. No phone call. He finally decided to go to bed at 10 p.m. “I was kind of depressed thinking this might be a letdown,” he said, concluding that Trump had decided
not to grant him clemency. “ ‘I’m back to where I’ve been for the last 19 years.’ ” But after around 11 p.m., Cesal said the phone rang. “A woman told me, ‘This is Ivanka Trump from the White House calling.’ ” He said the president’s daughter then “said the words I’ll never forget: ‘The president has commuted your sentence.’ ” When asked what he felt immediately after hearing his sentence had been commuted, Cesal said, “Relief that it was actually true.” Cesal’s case had been taken up by several advocacy groups, including the Denver-based Last Prisoner Project—a nonprofit organization dedicated to cannabis criminal justice reform. In addition to these groups, Cesal had another strong advocate in his corner: Alice Johnson, a Black woman in her 60s to whom Trump granted clemency in 2018. Johnson had been jailed in 1996 on charges
of attempted possession of drugs and money laundering after being involved in a cocaine trafficking ring in Memphis. Johnson—who, like Cesal, would have served life in prison had she not been granted clemency—personally carried his application for clemency directly into the West Wing of the White House, Cesal noted. “It’s as if my feet still haven’t hit the ground,” Cesal said. “This has been a long time.” Indeed, it has. Being charged … and sentenced How Cesal actually became involved in what eventually led to him being arrested and convicted is a story in and of itself. Cesal had a truck repair business in Lombard. One of his customers owned a trucking company in Lakeland, Fla. he had known for more than 10 years. “The drivers (from that compa-
ny) were using the semis to smuggle marijuana,” Cesal said. “They told me they did it; I didn’t know any of the details of it, but I generally knew that, yes, they were in that business (of smuggling marijuana).” Cesal said he knowingly repaired the trucks after they had been damaged in smuggling operations. He was paid for doing the repairs like he would have been paid by other trucking companies—i.e., it was a normal business transaction. “To be honest, I didn’t care what they did with their trucks,” Cesal said. Eventually, the owner of the trucking company and his son were arrested for smuggling marijuana, and Cesal said they squealed on him. The father was granted immunity for cooperating with federal prosecutors. Cesal said the son was sentenced to 50 months in federal prison, but Cesal added that “the bureau
See GROUND, Page 4
MIKE SANDROLINI PHOTO Bensenville Independent
Craig Cesal of Lombard was granted clemency by now former President Donald Trump on Trump’s last day in office, Jan. 19. He had been serving a life sentence for conspiracy to distribute marijuana since 2003.
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Police Reports...........6 Sports �������������������� 14 Viewpoint.................7 Classifieds..............13
MIKE SANDROLINI PHOTO Bensenville Independent
School bus hits light pole on York Road
According to a message posted on the Alert Center of the City of Elmhurst website, Elmhurst police closed York Road between Butterfield and Van Buren mid-afternoon on Jan. 27 due to an accident where a school bus hit a light pole. There were no passengers on the bus, and the driver was transferred to an area hospital for treatment of minor injuries. The road was closed while ComEd and the Elmhurst Public Works Department repaired the damaged light pole.
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