Steven Kadonsky of East Brunswick was accused of leading a cannabis growing and selling ring, Patch reported. Authorities seized 1,173 pounds of marijuana at a Piscataway warehouse in 1992.
He received a life sentence and was paroled in 2020 after nearly 26 years; an advocate quote says 22, so figures differ. The governor's office announced on December 17, 2025 clemency commuting his parole supervision. He now runs a charity, KIDZ 2 the Rescue, and works with a Newark returning citizens group.
Why it matters: The amount is far above our small-scale threshold, so this is a clemency story, not a small-amount case, and it shows New Jersey using clemency on a cannabis-era life sentence.
Source: Patch (Newark), 2025-12-17. Forgotten Prisoner's account is based on this reporting.