Justice for Ross: wrongfully sentenced. Help fund an Appeal

Wrongfully sentenced to 25 years. My name is Michele. I am Ross’s mom. May son was just sentenced to 25 years in prison based on false charges that misrepresented what he was actually doing. He was making fireworks.

After Ross was laid off from the oil fields, he began making and selling fireworks for a living, while putting his wife through nursing school. He studied traditional Italian Fireworking, attending fireworking conventions, had a local fireworks stand and even provided a 4th of July display with his partners. He never had any intention of harming anyone.

In 2021, a maintenance man entered his home searching for a leak. He saw the Fireworking lab and reported it as a meth lab. The police raided his home. They found his fireworks setup and agreed it was a meth lab, which later proved to be false. Then they raided his garage where he made his fireworks and called it a bomb-making site. The ATF and FBI were brought in and they cleared Ross. Despite these assurances, the police department persisted and filed 14 felony charges against him.

I'm his mom. Those of you who know him know he would never hurt anybody intentionally. I paid his $100,000 bond using all my savings. A year later, they revoked it saying he didn’t make all of his appearances. He did. He had to reschedule a few due to illness (blood clots and sepsis). Ross had been in and out of the hospital for months. I even drove him the 12 hours to Williston myself for a hearing. Ross had an 103 fever and a portable IV of antibiotics stuck in him.

His attorney had been a prosecutor and was not comfortable with going to trial. He convinced Ross that if he didn’t take the plea he arranged with the prosecutor that he risked a 75 year sentence. Ross took the plea and pleaded guilty to things he did not do. The attorney assured him he would be able to explain these things at sentencing. That did not happen. He was even denied an expert witness which is guaranteed under the law.

The judge did not believe he was making fireworks. She undermined his attending Sunday services and counseling while incarcerated. She felt the penalties as defined under the law were not severe enough, so she sentenced him to consecutive terms rather than the concurrent norms.

Ross has no criminal history. He was a decorated veteran who served and was critically wounded in Afghanistan.

I am retired. I have gone through my savings. I need to raise money to pay for an attorney to handle his appeal. Please help.