Legal and public advocacy
Donte West and the Last Prisoner Project took up the case, and former U.S. Attorney Barry Grissom added his voice that the sentence was excessive.
Case result
Deshaun Durham
Riley County, Kansas
92-month sentence for marijuana distribution. Sentence commuted, released December 2024.
CommutationResolved caseReentry & advocacy
Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly commuted Deshaun Durham’s 92-month marijuana sentence, and he walked free on December 6, 2024.
The case
Almost eight years for selling marijuana at 20
Deshaun Durham was 20 when he was arrested in June 2020 for selling marijuana, which he was doing to pay for his own habit.
In March 2022 he pleaded to distribution or possession with intent to distribute marijuana. Two months later a Riley County judge handed down 92 months. He began life in prison right around his 22nd birthday.
His mother made him a promise two and a half years before his release: she would do everything in her power to get him home.
The path to freedom
Commutation by the governor
His mother and a family friend reached out to Donte West and the Last Prisoner Project. West, who had his own Riley County conviction in front of the same judge, said that history pushed him to get involved.
Barry Grissom, a former U.S. Attorney for the District of Kansas, reviewed the case and agreed the sentence was too long.
Gov. Laura Kelly granted a commutation. Durham got the news in November 2024 and walked out on the morning of Friday, December 6, 2024. The source does not describe the terms of the commutation.
Original sentence
92 months
Result
Sentence commuted
Timeline
From sentence to freedom
- June 2020
Arrested at 20
Durham is arrested for selling marijuana.
- March 2022
Plea
He pleads to distribution or possession with intent to distribute marijuana.
- May 2022
Sentenced to 92 months
A Riley County judge imposes a sentence of about 7.6 years.
- November 2024
Commutation
He learns Gov. Laura Kelly has commuted his sentence.
- December 6, 2024
Released
Durham walks out of Hutchinson Correctional Facility.
The work behind the result
How advocacy helped
A family that kept pushing
His mother, Brandi Wishard, kept her promise to fight for him and helped set the effort in motion.
Life after release
Deshaun Durham today
Durham was 24 when he came home. His first goals were simple: a meal that wasn’t prison food, time with his siblings, and meeting a niece born while he was inside.
He also hoped to catch a Kansas City Chiefs game and to help others imprisoned for crimes like his.
“That’s just bad public policy.”
Why this result matters
A first, non-violent marijuana case that would have run to 2030 ended in 2024.
Durham’s sentence was cut short by a commutation — a form of relief the source describes as rare. It shows what persistent family, legal and public advocacy can achieve for someone serving years for a non-violent marijuana offense.
Documents, sources & coverage
The public record
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Last updated October 2026.
