When state inmate Corey Ladd was escorted by deputies into Criminal District Court Friday (June 9), he had 12 years left on a 17-year sentence for multiple drug possession charges. When he walked out several hours later, though still in shackles and chains, he did so knowing that in a few days he would be released from custody and back in the arms of his family, including his 5-year-old daughter, Charlee.
At Friday’s hearing, Judge Karen Herman told the courtroom that in deciding whether to reduce 31-year-old Ladd’s sentence, she needed to take into account the state’s recent criminal justice reforms that drastically reduced penalties for marijuana possession. In addition, she noted Ladd’s nonviolent criminal history, his dedication to substance abuse programs while in prison, the promise of employment if released and the needs of his family at home.
With those factors in mind, she reduced his sentence to 10 years. That allowed for Ladd’s release as nonviolent offenders are only required to serve 40 percent of their sentence. Since Ladd already served five years, Herman ordered him released from custody of the Louisiana Department of Corrections followed by five years of active parole.
As Ladd stood in a white prison jumpsuit, his ankles shackled and his wrists in handcuffs, Herman said she had “every faith in the world” that he would continue to dedicate himself to improving his life and implored him to reach out to her if he was struggling.
“I want you to have every opportunity to be able to hold your child and help your parents,” she said, as Ladd’s family wept in the gallery. “I want you to see your daughter walk down the aisle.”
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When parents go to prison, children pay
There are an estimated 94,000 children in Louisiana who have experienced having a parent serve jail time.
Herman’s reduction of Ladd’s sentence, however, was only possible once the Orleans Parish District Attorney’s Office agreed to vacate Ladd’s conviction under the habitual offender law. That allowed Herman greater leeway in reducing the years Ladd was required to serve.
District Attorney Leon Cannizzaro “took into account the recent legislative changes made regarding penalties associated with the possession of marijuana and decided to take the multiple offender law off the table and allow the judge to sentence him,” said DA spokesman Christopher Bowman.
Ladd was arrested in 2011 for possession of half an ounce of marijuana. Two years later a jury found him guilty, his third marijuana possession conviction making it a felony. The court sentenced him to 10 years with credit for time served.
However, since Ladd had two prior felony convictions — one for possession of LSD and the other for possession of one hydrocodone pill — it allowed Cannizzaro to prosecute him under the habitual offender law, which required the court to sentence him to between 13 and 40 years. Judge Herman settled on 20 years, which she reduced to 17 upon appeal.
Bowman defended Ladd’s sentence earlier this year, calling him a “drug dealer.”
“When making prosecutorial decisions, the district attorney certainly considers the threat that activities incumbent in the illegal distribution of narcotics pose to young children who are raised in the homes of drug dealers,” Bowman said in January.
Family Sentence
Louisiana’s criminal justice system scars children, families and the community when parents are imprisoned
Ladd’s attorney appealed again to the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals, which ordered Herman to reconsider Ladd’s prison term. The court also criticized Cannizzaro’s use of the repeat offender law.
“Louisiana has some of the harshest sentencing statutes in these United States. Yet, this state also has one of the highest rates of incarceration, crime rate and recidivism,” the judges wrote in their ruling. “It would appear that the purpose of the habitual offender statutes to deter crime is not working and the state’s finances are being drained by the excessive incarcerations, particularly those for nonviolent crimes.”
The District Attorney’s Office challenged the 4th Circuit’s ruling to the Louisiana Supreme Court, but it was rejected, leading to Friday’s hearing.
In a somewhat surprising move, assistant district attorney Taylor Anthony told Herman in court Friday that his office agreed to vacate Ladd’s habitual offender conviction. This allowed Herman to sentence Ladd as a third-time marijuana possession offender, which under the law in effect when he was convicted carried a sentence of up to 20 years. The state’s revised marijuana law calls for up to two years in prison for a third-time offender.
“The state is aware and acknowledges that the penalty for possession of marijuana has changed and continually changed going all the way back to the 60s,” Anthony said. “I’m impressed by what I hear about Mr. Ladd and wish him well, whether he gets out tomorrow or years from now.”
After the hearing, Ladd was transported back to Allen Correctional Center in Kinder where he is currently incarcerated. There he will collect his belongings and be processed, clearing the way for him to return home to his family in Kenner within the next several days.
Ladd’s mother, Lisa Ladd, said they are “glad he is coming home and is going to be an active part of the family instead of a phone call. The digital age is here but there is nothing like a real hug.”
Ladd’s attorney, Kenneth Hardin with Orleans Public Defenders, saw the reduction of his client’s sentence as a blow against the DA’s use of the repeat offender law and said he hopes it affects long-term change.
“The public has looked upon how this has contributed to the epidemic problem we have of over-incarceration,” Hardin said. “What you saw today was a judge who made a decision within her discretion. She didn’t have the habitual felony offender law on her back.”