Life in Prison for Selling $20 of Weed

UNCONSCIONABLE

Photo Illustration by Sarah Rogers/The Daily Beast

Homeless and hungry, Fate Vincent Winslow wanted something to eat, so he agreed to sell pot to a stranger—an undercover cop.

Abby Haglage

PART I

On September 5, 2008, Fate Vincent Winslow watched a plainclothes stranger approach him. Homeless and hungry, on a dark street rife with crime, the 41-year-old African American was anxious to make contact, motivated by one singular need: food.

Another man, this one white, stood next to Winslow. He is referred to in court documents exclusively as “Perdue.”