Will Charlo Greene Face Hard Prison Time?

Charlene Egbe, better known as Charlo Greene, quit her job as a reporter on national television in a big way. “F*ck it, I quit,” she said on live national television, simultaneously voicing her support for cannabis legalization. Greene happened to be reporting on the Alaska Cannabis Club, the collective she owned. With the addition of new charges,Charlo Greene is now facing up to 14 charges and up to 54 years in prison.

Greene quickly became a major voice for the cannabis legalization effort in Alaska and abroad. Unfortunately, her position in the spotlight attracted the long arm of the law. The state of Alaska launched a series of undercover raids on the Alaska Cannabis Club.

“I just found out I’m facing an additional six felonies – 30 more years,” Charlo Greene posted on Facebook. “That’s 54 years in prison for a plant. Aaaaand the attorney I paid to handle my case, who’s been working it for the last year, just let me know she’s quitting to join the prosecution and not giving me back any of the money she was paid to finish my case. #ilovealaska”

Greene reported for news stations in Georgia, Tennessee and West Virginia before coming aboard as a news personality for KTVA in her home state. When Greene’s club in Alaska was raided by law enforcement, she was particularly concerned for the well-being of her siblings, who are black. “The fact that they were watching us for so long, I kind of felt violated,” Jennifer Egbe, Greene’s sister and coworker, told The Guardian. “I was really just heartbroken. I never assumed it would go this far.”

Greene herself was not personally involved in the undercover transactions that law enforcement build their case upon.

Charlo Greene’s charges are especially sketchy, in this day and age. In Alaska, blacks are 1.6 times more likely to be arrested for cannabis. Charlo Greene was particularly aware of the racial disparity that persists, even in Alaska.

Charlo Greene has pleaded not guilty and her trial is expected to drag on throughout the next upcoming months. It’s a stark reminder that cannabis advocates still have a long way to go until cannabis is accepted.