Obama Commutes Life Sentence for Crack Dealer, a Sign of Failed War on Drugs
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SEPTEMBER 24-30, 2015 | VOLUME 18 | NUMBER 48 BROWARDPALMBEACH.COM I FREE OBAMA COMMUTES LIFE SENTENCE FOR CRACK DEALER, A SIGN OF FAILED WAR ON DRUGS. PAGE 7 NBROWARD PALM BEACH ® BROWARDPALMBEACH.COM ▼ Contents 2450 HOLLYWOOD BLVD., STE. 301A HOLLYWOOD, FL 33020 [email protected] 954-342-7700 VOL. 18 | NO. 48 | SEPTEMBER 24-30, 2015 EDITORIAL EDITOR Chuck Strouse MANAGING EDITOR Deirdra Funcheon EDITORIAL OPERATIONS MANAGER Keith Hollar browardpalmbeach.com ASSOCIATE WEB EDITOR Jose D. Duran browardpalmbeach.com STAFF WRITERS Laine Doss, Chris Joseph, Jessica Swanson, Kyle Swenson MUSIC EDITOR Falyn Freyman ARTS & CULTURE/FOOD EDITOR Rebecca McBane CLUBS EDITOR Laurie Charles PROOFREADER Mary Louise English CONTRIBUTORS Emily Bloch, Nicole Danna, Michelle DeCarion, Doug Fairall, Abel Folgar, Victor Gonzalez, Natalya Jones, Jonathan Kendall, Angel Melendez, Dave Minsky, Andrea Richard, David Rolland, Gillian Speiser, Terra Sullivan, John Thomason, Sara Ventiera, David Von Bader, Lee Zimmerman ART | CONTENTS | | CONTENTS ART DIRECTOR Miche Ratto ASSISTANT ART DIRECTOR Kristin Bjornsen PRODUCTION PRODUCTION MANAGER Mike Lugo PRODUCTION ASSISTANT MANAGER Jorge Sesin ADVERTISING ART DIRECTOR Andrea Cruz PRODUCTION ARTIST Michael Campina ADVERTISING ADVERTISING DIRECTOR Alexis Guillen Sandberg Eve Michele by Photo ONLINE SUPPORT MANAGER Ryan Garcia MARKETING DIRECTOR Morgan Stockmayer EVENT DIRECTOR CarlaChristina Thompson ▼ RETAIL/MARKETING COORDINATOR Carolina del Busto Featured Stories SENIOR ACCOUNT EXECUTIVES Sarah Abrahams, Peter Heumann, Kristi Kinard-Dunstan ACCOUNT EXECUTIVES Overdue Michelle Beckman, Paige Bresky, Jasmany Santana Homecoming CLASSIFIED SENIOR ACCOUNT EXECUTIVES A small-time crack dealer’s life Patrick Butters, Ladyane Lopez, Joel Valez-Stokes sentence was commuted by CIRCULATION Obama — a sign of the failed CIRCULATION DIRECTOR Richard Lynch War on Drugs. 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Box 011591, Miami, FL 33101-1591. 2 2 browardpalmbeach.com | CONTENTS | PULP | NEWS | NIGHT+DAY | STAGE | ART | FILM | DISH | MUSIC | NEW TIMES BROWARD-PALM BEACH SEPTEMBER 24-SEPTEMBER 30, 2015 3 | THE PULP | ▼ COURTS ▼ RADIO PUMP IT UP LAWSUIT ACCUSES BOCA COMPANY MAKIN’ (AIR)WAVES OF SELLING SYNTHETICS AS “NATURAL FRUSTRATED PROBATION OFFICER SUPPLEMENTS.” QUITS TO START RADIO SHOW ABOUT BY KYLE SWENSON browardpalmbeach.com lackstone Labs is a heavy hitter in the browardpalmbeach.com CRIMINAL JUSTICE. BY JESS SWANSON onalisa Weber remembers a 16-year- weight-room-supplement game. The old boy standing in a Broward company is fronted by two social-me- TS | TS Bdia-savvy beefcakes who often take to YouTube courtroom with a blank stare. He N Mhad violated his probation. A judge asked to hawk and explain their company’s wares. But TE Arizona-based Nutrition Distribution, a supple- N the boy why he didn’t attend the manda- O tory boot camp, and when the boy didn’t ment company that competes with Blackstone, C answer, the judge sentenced him to prison. claimed in an April lawsuit (filed in California) “The streets raised him. You looked at him, that the Florida company was trying to pass off his attitude, you knew he was gone. He lacked products as “natural supplements” when they | PULP love,” Weber says. “I have too many stories actually included “illegal synthetic ingredients.” like that, too many faces, too many mothers Now, the legal action is heating up, with the passing out seeing their sons sentenced.” EWS EWS competitor again claiming Blackstone is deceiv- N Weber was a probation officer with the ing clients and flouting regulation. This month, Florida Department of Corrections. For Y | six years, she worked with hundreds of of- lawyers asked a California judge to sign an in- DA fenders, helping them fill out paperwork junction against the sale of one particular chem- and meet court dates. But it frustrated her. Photo courtesy of Monalisa Weber ical that hasn’t even been approved for human She noticed most offenders didn’t know show, called Probation Station. The show Probation Station’s Monalisa Weber. use — a Blackstone product called Ostapure. their rights and, on the flip side, didn’t re- airs every Tuesday from 6 to 7 p.m. on Ex- In promotional material and videos featur- alize that the tiniest infraction while on citement Radio.com. She explains Florida’s ida International University with a psychology ing the company’s two owners and frontmen, GE | NIGHT+ probation could land them in prison. statutes, brings in former inmates, and degree in 2001. Weber thought she’d be helping P.J. Braun and Aaron Singerman, the company A T In 2007, Weber resigned after the stress addresses various aspects of probation. people get their lives back on track. Instead, trumpeted Ostapure’s usefulness for gym rats S and heartbreak became too much. She took People can also call in with questions. “it was not a healthy environment. I loved looking to swell up. “Ostapure has the same ana- up work as a paralegal at the law office of J.C. “I’ve sort of built a curriculum about what the courtroom — but it’s a factory,” she says. bolic effect as testosterone without any of the Dugue in Hialeah. In the evenings, Weber, a the terms of probation are,” she says. “I can She still feeds the homeless. She adverse side effects that come from its use,” one South Broward resident, would visit the pri- help them and guide them in the right direc- also does work as a victim advocate and of the owners says in a YouTube video. “When marily black Sistrunk area of Fort Lauderdale, tion. I’ve always focused on the word ‘reha- volunteers at a program for teen moth- using Ostapure on a diet, you don’t have to where people flocked to her for advice. That’s bilitation,’ because it’s the right thing to do.” ers. She speaks