Drug dealer story got far too much attention

Michael Ritter Pahrump

6 years ago

Timothy Tyler, center, embraces his cousin, Dave Phelps, left, and friend Hilary after visiting a halfway house to remove his ankle monitor at the completion of his sentence on Thursday, Aug. 30, 2018. Tyler was originally sentenced in 1994 to life without parole for selling LSD, but his sentence was later commuted by President Obama in 2016. Chase Stevens Las Vegas Review-Journal @csstevensphoto

I am writing about your Sunday article “Ex-inmate feels alive after 26 years” by Rachel Crosby. First, I would like to say that I have no problem with Timothy Tyler being freed after 26 years even though he was a three-time convicted drug dealer.

My problem is the amount of space the Review Journal gave this and the attempt to make Tyler sound like a victim of our criminal justice system.

Maybe he should have learned after the first two convictions. Selling LSD, a powerful mind altering drug. It is not like selling marijuana. To make a victim out of sometime who was arrested three times is typical of the media these days.