Help Sean & Eboni Worsley Move Forward in CA

Five years ago, Purple Heart-decorated Iraq War Veteran Sean Worsley and his wife Eboni were arrested in Alabama for bringing his legally prescribed medical marijuana into a state where marijuana at the time was completely illegal. Sean, who suffers from a traumatic brain injury, PTSD, and chronic pain after bomb, the first of eight; exploded while he was dismantling it in Iraq, spent 6 days in jail. A year later, under threat of again spending a months or longer in jail if he wanted to go to trial, he pled guilty and was sentenced to five years’ probation but not before they spent another 6 days in Pickens County Jail. The charges against Eboni were dismissed.

The Worsleys moved to Arizona and Sean attempted to comply with probation, but homelessness, lack of money, and the differences between Arizona and Alabama’s marijuana laws made that impossible. At one especially low point, Sean went to the Phoenix VA to get the drug treatment the Alabama judge had sentenced him to, only to be sent away because he had a legal prescription for medical marijuana and did not, in the eyes of the VA, have a drug problem.

In 2020, as the pandemic bore down on America, Sean was arrested in Phoenix on the heels of Eboni having emergency open heart surgery. During a routine traffic stop, Sean was extradited to Alabama for violating his probation. He spent the better part of a year behind bars, including a time in Alabama’s deadly prisons which are being sued by the Department of Justice for violating prisoners’ rights under the Eighth Amendment. Alabama corrections officers hacked off Sean’s long hair, a symbol of his religious beliefs.

Sean's story was upifted by Alabama Appleseed and again by PBS NOVA  as a lesson on the terrible consequences of the War on Drugs.
 
Hope -- then a devastating loss

Sean was paroled in Nov. 2020 and moved to California with Eboni to start a new life. But their Alabama experience keeps dragging them down. In late 2020, Eboni was thrilled to learn she was pregnant. But pre-existing conditions that are common among Black women who have experienced the type of trauma the Worlseys have been through meant that her pregnancy was high risk. Alabama’s social safety net is threadbare and Eboni was unable to access affordable prenatal care. Soon after they moved to California, the Worsley’s son, Kalem Uzzaiah, was stillborn. Eboni almost died.

 All of this injustice and grief comes with a price tag: Tens of thousands of dollars in bail bond fees, probation and assessment fees high-interest title and payday loans, fines, fees, and court costs, medical bills. The arrest and conviction ruined the Worsleys’ credit, thwarting access to safe housing, credit, or opportunities to thrive. Eboni struggles to find work because background checks still show the charges lodged against her in Alabama, even though they were dropped as meritless. 

Alabama has moved on and moved up: Sean’s story was even cited in a 2021 legislative discussion was one of the reasons Alabama needed to at long last legalize medical marijuana. But the Worsleys are still mired in a trap that Alabama set for them. The have spent months trying to find their footing in California, but they need help. Sean’s probation will end at Christmas and the Worsleys need help to make a fresh start. Please donate if you can.