Help from the inside
A man Paige met in prison, involved with the Last Prisoner Project, won his own freedom and then helped secure Paige’s release.
Case result
Kyle Paige
New Jersey
82-month sentence. Released, now working in legal cannabis.
ReleasedReentry & advocacyCannabis industry career
After serving an 82-month cannabis sentence, Kyle Paige came home and now works as a cultivation technician in New Jersey’s legal market.
The case
From cannabis possession to a six-year sentence
Kyle Paige’s first brush with cannabis law came in 1997, when a possession case sent him to prison for roughly two and a half years.
He later moved to Kansas City, Missouri, where he trimmed cannabis for a California medical operator that ran three licensed farms. From there he moved into brokering crops — work he himself describes as illegal — and kept at it for about five years.
That ended when an informant pointed to Paige and a partner as moving cannabis across state lines. He was arrested and offered 20 years; his lawyer brought that down to 82 months. His daughter was 12 when he went in and 18 by the time he came home.
The path to freedom
Help from inside, and home for Christmas
Inside, Paige met a man connected to the Last Prisoner Project who was fighting his own case. That man won his release and then turned to helping Paige secure his — getting him home in time to spend Christmas with his family.
Once out, Paige connected with attorney Chirali Patel, founder of Blaze Law Firm, who helped him find his way back into cannabis — this time legally — and referred him to Ascend Wellness Holdings.
The source does not give a release date or describe the legal process behind his release.
Original sentence
82 months
Result
Released
Timeline
From sentence to freedom
- 1997
First possession case
Paige serves about two and a half years in prison for cannabis possession.
- Following years
Brokering crops
After trimming for a licensed California medical operator, he brokers cannabis crops for about five years.
- Date not stated
Arrest and 82-month sentence
An informant implicates him; a 20-year offer is reduced to 82 months.
- Before Christmas
Released
With help from a fellow prisoner tied to the Last Prisoner Project, he comes home to his family.
- Today
Working at Ascend
He works as a cultivation technician at Ascend Wellness Holdings in New Jersey.
The work behind the result
How advocacy helped
Help getting back to work
Attorney Chirali Patel of Blaze Law Firm and its nonprofit Blaze Responsibly helped him re-enter the industry. Paige now joins their expungement clinics.
Life after release
Kyle Paige today
Paige works as a cultivation technician at Ascend in New Jersey and takes part in Blaze Responsibly’s expungement clinics, helping others clear old records.
He points to education and community engagement as the keys to moving forward.
“He got me out in time to be home for Christmas for my family.”
Why this result matters
Punished for cannabis then, building a career in it now.
Someone with earlier cannabis convictions now works inside the legal market he was once imprisoned for — and spends his time helping others clear similar convictions from their records.
Documents, sources & coverage
The public record
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Last updated October 2026.
