Alfred Anaya See No Evil

For many years, Alfred Anaya was one of the most celebrated custom audio installers in the United States—a true artist whose work was frequently featured in magazines ranging from Mobile Electronics to Lowrider. To make a little extra money for his young family, Anaya also built hidden compartments (also known as “traps”) in customers’ car—an activity that is not prohibited by either state or federal law.

Without Anaya’s direct knowledge, several of his clients used these compartments to ship narcotics from California to Kansas. Though he never saw or handled any illegal items, Anaya was arrested by the Drug Enforcement Administration in November 2009. When he declined to become a government informant because he feared for his children’s safety, he was charged with conspiracy to distribute cocaine and methamphetamine in the District of Kansas, a state he had never set foot in before. Anaya was convicted at trial and sentenced to over 24 years in federal prison—a staggering and unprecedented sentence for someone who merely made secret compartments. The men at the very top of the drug-trafficking organization received sentences half that length. (Anaya’s whole heartbreaking story is told in this link http://www.wired.com/2013/03/alfred-anaya/.)

Anaya, who had no prior convictions, is now hoping to reduce the number of years that he must serve, so that he can reunited with his beloved and supportive family. He desperately needs support to help pay for an attorney who specializes in post-conviction challenges. Please consider contributing a small amount to fund Anaya’s quest for some small measure of sanity in the War on Drugs; society is ill-served by keeping him locked up for decades merely because he created pieces of technology.