Liberty Minute December 18 2013

In 2002, Utah resident Weldon Angelos was approached by a childhood friend named Ronnie Lazalde, who was involved in a local gang. Facing serious narcotics and firearms charges, Lazalde had become a police informant. Lazalde lured Angelos into selling him about 24 ounces of marijuana.

After Angelos was arrested, a prosecutor offered him a deal: He could plead guilty to a single count of carrying a firearm while selling narcotics, and face a mandatory 15 year prison term, or face additional charges and a prison term of more than 100 years.

No gun was reported by Lazalde, and none was mentioned in the police reports. However, by the time Angelos went to trial, Lazalde?s testimony had been updated to include mention of a gun. Angelos is now serving a 55-year prison sentence.

When I contacted Lazalde to ask him about the case, the informant ? who was spared significant prison time ? replied:  "I was able to turn my life around and that's all I can tell you about my past life that is over.? Of the friend he had entrapped, Lazalde said: ?Weldon was given the chance to help himself and he chose not to."

Cynical betrayals of this kind are ubiquitous in our so-called justice system.

Let us take back the liberty wherewith Christ has made us free.