Every Texan, almost every American, would welcome a visit to their community from Willie Nelson. Over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend, Willie made a stop in Sierra Blanca, though the conditions were ones for which Willie was likely less than thankful.
Traveling to Austin from California, where he’d celebrated the holiday with family, Nelson was detained at the Border Patrol checkpoint west of Sierra Blanca Friday (Nov. 26) at about 9 a.m. for alleged marijuana possession. He was booked at the Hudspeth County jail later that morning. He was free on a $2,500 signature bond by early afternoon.
photograph courtesy of the Hudspeth County Sheriff’s Department – A mug shot of Willie Nelson, taken at the Hudspeth County jail after Willie was detained for alleged marijuana possession Friday (Nov. 26).
The seriousness of the criminal charges Wilie may face remains unclear, but, contrary to some national news reports, Hudspeth County officials said Willie is more likely to face misdemeanor than felony charges and that, in any event, prosecutors will probably not seek jail time for the 77-year-old musician and icon.
Some national accounts indicated that Border Patrol agents detained Willie after they smelled marijuana coming from within his tour bus, but, in an interview Tuesday (Nov. 30), Hudspeth County Sheriff Arvin West said a drug dog alerted the agents to the presence of marijuana. (“It was no Cheech and Chong saga,” West said.)
Hudspeth County deputies transported Willie to the jail in Sierra Blanca at about 10:45 a.m.
“We filed on him for misdemeanor possession,” West said. “He was booked in and bonded out on a $2,500 signature bond.” Nelson was never put behind bars at the county jail.
The signature bond allowed West to release Nelson quickly, without having to wait for a magistrate to set bond, an approach West said was used “to keep the masses of people from swamping us.” The signature bond also did not require Willie to pay any money, but, West said, “his signature is worth $2,500.”
Willie was ultimately released at about 1:30 p.m., and West said he was amiable during his time in the jail, posing for photos with sheriff’s department staff and giving autographs. West said Willie did express frustration that Border Patrol agents had handcuffed him, a frustration West said he understood.
“What’s a 77 year old going to do to a bunch of young guys?” West said.
West said that while Willie “took full responsibility” for the marijuana found in his bus, West was not sure the singer was aware it was in the rig. He said that two members of Nelson’s crew had driven the bus to California to bring Nelson back for shows in Oklahoma and Texas and that they had carried the marijuana with them across the country before retrieving Willie.
photograph courtesy of the Hudspeth County Sheriff’s Department – Hudspeth County Sheriff Arvin West pictured with Willie Nelson at the Hudspeth County jail in Sierra Blanca.
The nature of the criminal charges Willie might face may depend on the amount of marijuana he is determined to have had in his possession. Initial reports indicated Nelson was arrested with 6 ounces of marijuana. The threshold at which possession moves from a misdemeanor to a felony is 4 ounces. West said the 6-ounce figure included the packaging in which it was wrapped. While the weight of packaging is included in many possession cases, West said that he and his deputies booked Nelson on a misdemeanor based on their determination that there were fewer than 4 ounces of drugs involved.
“It will not be a felony charge, because of the packaging,” West said.
However, the decision on how or whether to prosecute the case will likely be made by Hudspeth County Attorney Kit Bramblett. Bramblett said that the amount of marijuana seized would be reviewed. A misdemeanor charge would be prosecuted by Bramblett, in Hudspeth County court, while a felony charge would be taken up by the district attorney and would go before a state district judge.
In Texas, possession of marijuana in an amount between 2 and 4 ounces is a class A misdemeanor, carrying a penalty of up to one year incarceration. Possession in an amount between 4 ounces and 1 lb. is a state jail felony, with a jail sentence ranging from a minimum of 180 days to two years. Nelson pleaded guilty to marijuana possession in relation to a citation issued in Louisiana in 2006, and that prior record could impact the way he might be sentenced if convicted again. Willie could also potentially be charged with possession of paraphernalia, a class C misdemeanor.
Though he said West “could be wrong” about the amount of marijuana seized, Bramblett said he had no zeal to make a major case out of Willie’s arrest.
“I don’t have any inclination to make a retirement case out of it,” he said. “I’m not inclined to punish anyone above what the law requires. It’s not a real serious damn thing anyways.”
A marijuana possession arrest carries a four-year statute of limitations, and Bramblett said he is inclined to wait for at least some period of time before moving forward with any prosecution.
“I think it ought to be left alone for a little while,” he said, “to let the publicity die down.”
Willie’s arrest in Hudspeth County prompted a wave of calls from national news outlets and unfriendly emails to local officials. West said he had received about 500 “Free Willie” emails, one of which suggested that West deserved to meet an untimely end at the hands of drug cartel hit men for booking the musician.
Bramblett said that even if the amount of alleged marijuana were determined to justify a felony prosecution, it was unlikely the district attorney in El Paso would seek to incarcerate Willie.
“I don’t think this is the kind of thing the DA would seek jail time for,” he said. “A man of this age – he’s not someone who’s been in and out of the pen.”
Whatever criminal charges Wilie may face, he’s likely to be able to bring in some big legal guns. In a press report Tuesday, noted Texas defense attorney Dick DeGuerin, who recently represented former congressman Tom Delay, weighed in on Willie’s arrest, questioning the lawfulness of the Border Patrol’s search of the bus.
County Judge Becky Dean-Walker said Tuesday that if Nelson were tried in Hudspeth County court, over which she presides, “he would be treated no different than any other defendant. He wouldn’t be discriminated against – or taken advantage of.”
Born in the small north-central Texas town of Abbott, Nelson’s early musical successes were as a songwriter. He famously said he wrote three songs – “Crazy,” “Night Life” and “Funny How Time Slips Away,” classics all – in a single week, driving back and forth from work in Houston and his home in Pasadena, Texas. Those songs – and others like “Hello Walls” and “Mr. Record Man” – became hits for other performers after Willie landed in Nashville in the early 60s.
But Willie had always wanted to be a singer and front man, not simply a songwriter, and in the mid-70s he returned to Austin and recreated his career. He was able to connect with that town’s burgeoning hippie counterculture and, the legend has it, personally bridge the gap between that community and more traditional country music fans in Texas.
Willie’s breakout as a massive star came with the release of his 1975 album, Red Headed Stranger, on which strings and other prettifying elements of Nashville country were removed and Willie’s voice and guitar sounded out in all their distinctive and rough hewn personality.
Willie’s fondness for weed has been more or less public knowledge for decades. (Some stories have it that he smoked it on the roof of the White House, while on a visit there at the invitation of President Jimmy Carter.) He’s been an advocate for marijuana legalization and, in 2006, he was issued a citation for marijuana possession after being stopped on Interstate 10 in Louisiana.
Willie apparently managed to maintain a sense of humor during the recent incident in Sierra Blanca. When he saw his small stash being placed in the department’s evidence room, which is packed with thousands of pounds of marijuana, “he said, ‘Hell, ya’ll don’t need any more, give me my stuff back,’” Sheriff West said.
