CORNWALL, Ontario – Mickey Woods is, at this moment, languishing in a U.S. prison.
His Cornwall family is working hard behind the scenes so that one day, maybe not anytime soon but some day, Woods will be free.
To be fair, there are some who say Woods got what he deserved. He was sentenced last week to life in a U.S. prison for his part as one of the major players – if not the main man himself – in a $47-million marijuana smuggling operation that resulted in RCMP-led arrests in 2012.
Woods was one of 15 Canadian extradited to the U.S. for smuggling the marijuana from 2005 to 2008 with reportedly as much as 10,000 kg of pot moved through Akwesasne to various American cities.
His son Dylan said in an interview with Seaway News Woods is not disputing his conviction – just the sentence.
Last week Woods was handed life in a U.S. prison, part of a conviction for smuggling and being part of a continuing criminal enterprise.
“My dad’s main goal is to come back to Canada,” said Dylan. “They’re making an example out of him.”
Dylan alleges prosecutors in the U.S. are being tough with Woods because he is not prepared to co-operate and “rat” on others.
“He’s willing to do the time, but life in jail is unjust,” said Dylan. “Because my dad won’t rat, they’re giving him life.”
There has been a muted rallying cry for Woods’ eventual release. A Facebook page created to convey material to the public concerning the case has been set up by the Woods family. Last weekend a local Internet radio show featured an interview with Woods from prison where he pleaded his case for release and some social media posts have called for his release.
But others are having none of it and think Woods is getting what was coming to him.
Dylan said his father is trying to grapple with his new reality.
“He never gives up hope. He’s motivated. He’s not sad – well, probably but he won’t show it,” said Dylan, who plans to contact local MP Guy Lauzon and senior members of the federal government about seeking a return to Canada for his father.
Dylan has also been in contact with Canada’s Marc Emery, the so-called ‘Prince of Pot’ and cannabis activist who has been jailed several times, most notably in 2009 when he served a five-year sentence in a United States federal prison for selling mail-order cannabis seeds in that country.
“He was giving me advice for my father,” said Dylan. “He told me to tell my dad to get into hobbies to pass the time.”
Dylan said his father is in the midst of a transfer to a Brooklyn, N.Y. maximum security prison, before he finally lands at a Pennsylvania institution. Woods plans to apply for yet another transfer, later this year, to a prison in Ray Brook, N.Y. just south of Saranac Lake, N.Y.
Instead of a seven-hour drive to Pennsylvania Woods’ family would be driving 90 minutes to visit.
In the meantime Dylan said his family is working every angle it can to see him returned to Canada to finish out a sentence and eventually be released.
