How To Get a 3-10 Years Without Parole for Obtaining $20 Worth of Marijuana . . . .

IT'S PRETTY HARD TO DO THAT, even in drug-unfriendly Arizona, but a Phoenix UPS worker has managed to pull it off.  Walter Morrison, 20, hit the jackpot when he swapped a package he pilfered from his employer at Sky Harbor Airport for $20 worth of marijuana.  Turns out the package contained a diamond valued at $160,000.

Theft of more than $25,000 seems to be a class 2 felony in Arizona, punishable by 3 to 10 years in prison.  Ariz. Rev. Stat. § 13-802(G).   That's bad enough, but another section of the statute provides that where the stolen property is worth more than $100,000, the thief isn't eligible for suspended sentence, parole, or pardon.  Id. § 13-802(H).  Morrison better hope he can cut a deal to turn in his dealer . . . .

Best line from the ABC News Phoenix link above:  "“Any single stone over $100,000 [said a local jewelere] is an expensive stone.”  Who would have thought?