Bernard Noble, 51, was sentenced to 13 years of hard labor in 2011 for possessing two marijuana joints, The Marshall Project reported.
What we know:
- Noble was arrested while riding his bicycle during a visit to New Orleans in 2010.
- Thursday morning, he was released from prison after serving seven years as a result of harsh drug sentencing laws.
- His lawyers and advocates spent years pressuring the courts and lawmakers to reverse his long sentence
- In a 2015 interview with HuffPost, Noble, a father of seven, said the officers initially gave no explanation as to why they approached him.
- Noble had prior (non-violent) convictions for small amounts of cocaine and marijuana, he was sentenced to 13 years of prison without parole under Louisiana’s “habitual offender” law.
