Thomas J. Franzen, a 37-year-old Montgomery resident with stage-four testicular cancer, agreed on 30 May 2019 to plead guilty to possessing more than 5,000 grams of cannabis and was sentenced to four years in prison.[1][2] Postal inspectors had opened his parcel in February 2014 and found 19,000 grams of THC-infused chocolate ordered from a California dispensary, and a search of his home found cocaine, drug paraphernalia, a scale and cash that prosecutors said showed dealing.[1][2]

Franzen’s lawyer said he bought the 42 one-pound chocolate bars to treat his own nausea, while the state said he sought to sell them across the country.[1][2] Prosecutors dropped the graver trafficking charge, which could have carried up to 60 years, and the judge accepted four years though the offence carried four to fourteen; the state’s attorney said the office cut a twelve-year mandatory minimum to four in light of Franzen’s health, with two years to serve.[1][2] The sentence came a day before Illinois voted to legalise recreational marijuana.[1]

Governor J. B. Pritzker later commuted the sentence, and Franzen walked out of Stateville Correctional Center on 30 March 2020.[3]