POLITICS
THE WAR ON DRUGS MAY HAVE CHILLED, BUT THERE’S STILL SECTARIAN VIOLENCE. Story by Thomas White, Illustrations by Jasmine Ye Donte West pulled up to the wrong house, at the wrong time, in the wrong state. As a result, he nearly died in prison for a marijuana charge. In 2016, at just 23 years old, West took on the role of caretaker to his grandmother and two younger brothers in his native California. He dreamed of higher education but didn’t think it could be a reality for him given his finances and living situation. Still, his grandma encouraged him to pursue his college ambitions.
The Elegy of Donte West West says he was traveling to visit universities when he was arrested in Manhattan, Kansas. Twenty miles outside the college town, West was a passenger in a Hyundai pulled over in Junction City, Kansas. Police assumed the vehicle was a decoy car for drug distribution—on the highway the Hyundai was near a Lexus that they sus-
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THE PITCH | April 2022 | THEPITCHKC.COM
pected contained drugs. During the police stop of the Hyundai, an officer saw a phone’s navigation app open with a Manhattan address. Later, the Hyundai pulled up to an apartment in Manhattan. Twenty minutes later, the Lexus showed up. A plain-clothes
of marijuana and meth, while the Hyundai had only trace amounts of cannabis. Everyone but West took a plea deal. West believed in his innocence and assumed that a fair trial would exonerate him. He had no prior record and felt he did nothing wrong. West faced four felony charges:
“I felt as if I was sentenced to death for a first-time marijuana offense.” Riley County Lieutenant Officer in an unmarked police car was waiting for them ever since he’d been tipped off by the officer that pulled the Hyundai over in Junction City. Police arrested everyone at the apartment. The Lexus contained large amounts
conspiracy to distribute marijuana, large possession of marijuana with intent to distribute, conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine, and possession of methamphetamine with intent to distribute. While awaiting trial, West couldn’t take
care of his family. His beloved grandmother passed away, leading to his two younger brothers getting placed in foster care: a jarring example of the cruel collateral damage in the War on Drugs. At trial, authorities coerced the apartment owner to say—without evidence— that West had sold him a pound of weed a week prior. Police testified that West was searched and found in possession of a flip phone, the type which is often used as a burner phone for drug distribution. Based on the apartment owner’s testimony, police testimony, and the flip phone (despite no evidence of drug activity on the phone) West was found guilty. West was sentenced to seven years and eight months in state prison, longer than anyone else arrested at the apartment, including three who fled the scene. The driver of the Lexus—with large amounts of both marijuana and meth—was sentenced to six
