Natalia Wade is our next highlight in the ILLICIT Freedoms Campaign, which plans to surface the silenced stories of prisoners of the war on cannabis. She has a heart of liquid gold and a tale that needs to be told. She was charged with conspiracy to distribute marijuana in North Carolina, a state she had never visited before, and sentenced to 87 months in a federal prison.

Natalia Wade grew up in California, raised by strong women who taught her independence and to “get things on your own so you don’t have to ask anyone for anything…You’ve got to get out and get something early on in age.” She became a retail manager by age 16. At age 23, Natalia moved out to LA, got three jobs, and cultivated a life and community for the next ten years.  When asked if she would like to have cannabis funds deposited into her bank account. She thought, “There’s no harm in that. I’ll do that too. Extra money on the side.” She made deposits for 8-9 months then ventured off, got her own place with a significant other and continued life.  Years down the line, she hears that Evelyn is arrested, and Natalia calls the marshall to turn herself in.  The investigation was led by HSI and the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department, with the assistance of several other law enforcement agencies, to include the Gastonia Police Department, the Concord Police Department, the Mooresville Police Department, the Pineville Police Department, the Huntersville Police Department, the Kannapolis Police Department, the Cornelius Police Department, the Waxhaw Police Department, North Carolina Alcohol Law Enforcement, the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation, the Iredell County Sheriff's Office, the Union County Sheriff's Office, and the Beverly Hills and Culver City, Calif., police departments.

“I’ve never even got a parking ticket or speeding ticket before.” Natalia Wade was sentenced to 87 months in a federal prison for conspiracy to distribute marijuana. She had deposited less than 1% of cannabis profits into her bank account. “There’s no evidence of us shipping, selling any kind of drugs, any marijuana anywhere.” She and her 2 co-defendants went to trial in 2013. They all flew back and forth from California to North Carolina for their trial that lasted one week, Natalia says, “It only took the jury one hour to decide that we were guilty.”  The minimum sentence for federal conspiracy marijuana charges is five years. Natalia received over 7 years.  Forty-four percent of incarcerated women are black, although black women make up about 13 percent of the female U.S. population.

A 2005 analysis found that 43 percent of studies at the state level and 68 percent at the federal level reported direct racially discriminatory sentencing outcomes, impacting both the initial decision to incarcerate and the length of any ultimate sentence to incarceration. In North Carolina, when the defendant is black, a black prospective juror is 14% more likely to be challenged by the State than seated on the jury. “I do know I have a purpose in this world…Just know that I’m a fighter,” says Natalia.

Natalia was sick and doubled over in her jail cell in North Carolina waiting on sentencing for conspiracy to distribute marijuana and was fighting for her health. “The nurse at the prison told me, ‘Just go take a hot shower, that’ll work for you,’ but there’s no such thing as hot showers in prison.”  “A sick call is $20 every time,” Natalia remembers, “After $180 of sick call papers, I finally got in front of the doctor. She looked me in the face and said, “You look dead to me. Your blood levels are WAY off. You should be dead right now.” After seeing specialists, Natalia was diagnosed with Lupus and Rheumatoid Arthritis. She was told medical attention would be better at a federal prison but she was turned away from transfer because her condition was too severe to be accepted. She finally got to the federal camp in Victorville just to find out a harsher fate; The doctor only visits once a week now and “if you didn’t catch him by 10am that one day you were SOL until next week. You just suffer until he gets back,” she says. In the late 1970s, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that people serving sentences should be granted health care equal to what is available to those living in the immediate community beyond prison walls. 40% of incarcerated people have chronic conditions. Too many prison facilities in the United States are overcrowded at over 100% of capacity, which means they are not providing adequate care. If the correctional institution's staff denied care, the inmate would have no alternatives.

“I fought to have my life saved and I fought to be here today,” says Natalia. Natalia enrolled herself in a program through the prison that would allow her to stay at a halfway house in the final year of her sentence and get the proper medical care for her Lupus. “I do it with flying colors. I’ve never had any incidents, never gotten written up, never had any problems in prison with anyone,” she said. Two weeks before she’s supposed to finish the program and move into a halfway house, she’s called into the office. Natalia recalls, “They tell me I’m not eligible for time off to go home early because I’m a liability.” They’re response as to why, “Because if you mess up..you can’t go to county jail because they can’t take care of you,” referring to her newly diagnosed Lupus and Rheumatoid Arthritis. 

They already had it in their mind that Natalia was going to leave jail and immediately enter a life of crime. When Natalia found out about her indictment, which had been active for over a year, she called the Marshalls and made an appointment to turn herself in. During that time, Natalia worked at a very known retail store, “I have a license, I’m registered at the DMV. You can come to my house. No nothing,” she remembers. She was arrested and charged with conspiracy to distribute marijuana in North Carolina for putting cannabis profits in her bank account for 9 months, facing a mandatory minimum of five and a maximum of 40 years in prison alongside a $4 million fine for the marijuana trafficking conspiracy charge. Natalia served her full sentence of 87 months behind bars. “I didn’t get any halfway house, I didn’t qualify because I was a liability.” Natalia states, “There’s no nicer way to say it. You’re just a money sign; You’re there for them to get money and that’s about it.” Natalia’s incarceration cost taxpayers $263,167.75