In 2020, just days after New Jersey residents voted to legalize adult-use cannabis, Humberto Ramirez was sentenced to up to seven years in state prison for transporting 6 pounds of marijuana in his trunk.⁣⁣ Mercifully, last month—following years of tireless advocacy—Humberto was released to his loving family. Upon their unification, Brooke Popplewell, Humberto’s partner, was overcome with emotion, marveling that “... we went back to our normal routine. Did yard work and went food shopping together… The smile on our daughter’s face was priceless.” 

Fortunately, Humberto isn’t the only LPP Constituent who has recently returned home from cannabis-related incarceration in New Jersey. Alvi Ghaznavi and Mario Ramos, two other individuals featured in our New Jersey Clemency Campaign, have also been released over the past eighteen months. 



• Alvi Ghaznavi. After serving nearly three years (of an up to ten-year-long sentence) for operating a cannabis facility, Alvi was released from prison in August of 2022. Today, Alvi is enjoying home-cooked meals, time with his son, and visits from friends and family as he continues to look for employment opportunities. 
• Mario Ramos. Just days after New Jersey residents voted to legalize adult-use cannabis, Mario Ramos was sentenced to seven years in prison for conspiracy to manufacture marijuana. Fortunately, Mario was released from prison in March 2021 (though he still must participate in New Jersey’s intensive supervision program). Today Mario works as a researcher at NisonCo, a role he got via NisonCo’s re-entry hiring partnership with LPP. 
• Additional releases. LPP has also had the distinct pleasure of celebrating the unexpected releases of New Jersey constituents John Broomhead, Theapprat Borriraj, and James Wu. 

While we’ve enjoyed celebrating the newfound freedom of constituents like Alvi, Mario, and Humberto, we must note that their releases don’t mark the end of Last Prisoner Project’s work in New Jersey. After all, there is still a lot of work to do to redress the harms of cannabis criminalization in the state. 

To that end, we’re still working to secure the “full freedom” of our New Jersey constituents, several of whom remain under some form or fashion of intensive state supervision. We’re also still calling on Governor Murphy to issue formal clemency grants to Humberto, Alvi, and Mario, as well other individuals still incarcerated for cannabis in New Jersey. 

Last Prisoner Project also has legislative goals in the state. Our policy team continues to work with lawmakers and state agencies to ensure all individuals entitled to record clearance and sentence modification under New Jersey law receive the relief they deserve. We’re also working on a legislative solution that could make issuing clemency grants easier for the Governor.