jay z and roc nation call out the feds for refusing to release inmate over leftover chicken

There has been advocacy for the release of Valon Vailes, who is serving a 20-year sentence from 2007 for conspiracy to possess marijuana with the intent to distribute more than a ton of marijuana, and he has been at the Otisville Correctional Facility in New York.

His family, friends, and the likes of celebrities like Jay-Z have been calling for the release of Vailes especially given the fact that marijuana is now legal in most states in the U.S. Jay-Z and Team Roc have been working to push for criminal justice reform to help cases like Vailes’ as the sentences as excessive for the crime committed.

Last year, representatives of the rapper reached out to him to assist efforts to help him get home, and Jay-Z’s team has joined the cause. According to new documents, Vailes is continued to be held in jail because the man kept a leftover meal in his cell.

Team Roc’s attorney Alex Spiro has reportedly said that Vailes meets the criteria for compassionate release but that the federal prosecutor’s reasons for not releasing him are mind-boggling. According to TMZ, prosecutors say Vailes won’t be released because he used a piece of his prison uniform as workout equipment and also because he snuck food- fried chicken from the mess hall to his cell.