DENVER (CBS4) – On Thursday, Gov. Jared Polis signed an order pardoning nearly 3,000 marijuana convictions. The order applies to state level cases, where a person was in possession of less than one ounce of marijuana before it was legalized in Colorado.
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“Too many Coloradans have been followed their entire lives by a conviction for something that is no longer a crime,” Polis said in a statement.
Michael Diaz-Rivera knows firsthand the impact, “I remember that night sitting in the jail cell just knowing that I had already burned so many bridges.”
In 2006, when he was just 19 years old, he was caught with less than one ounce of marijuana.
“It was probably not even a half an ounce that I had, but the fact that it was in different bags is what they used to make it a distribution charge,” he said.
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At the advice of his attorney, he took a deal and pleaded guilty to a lesser charge; possession of more than 8 ounces of marijuana….