Daniel Muessig, the "real-life Saul Goodman" on going to prison and America's unjust legal system

Failed State Weekly for April 8, 2022

Daniel Muessig is a Pittsburgh folk hero, mostly for this ad that he put together when he was kicking off his law practice:

But the legal field is a tough racket. Tough enough, in fact, that Muessig eventually turned to some law-breaking of his own. Any day now he will go to prison for five years for conspiring to distribute 100 kilograms or more of marijuana and possession of marijuana. He was busted by an FBI task force who ID'd him through a wiretap.

Of course, he broke the law. But should we be sending anyone to jail over marijuana?

The fact is, even though we live in a world where marijuana is quasi-legal, there's still a prohibition — the illegal pot business is full of very shady people doing very dangerous stuff, which is why the rewards are so great. When Muessig was busted, the cops discovered almost half a million dollars in cash. What does it say about this country that someone would have to go to such lengths to pay off their student loans?

This episode of the Failed State Update podcast features J.G. Michael's epic 2-hour conversation with Muessig. They cover everything from American drug law to the Jewish mob history of Pittsburgh's Squirrel Hill neighborhood, to the true story of the man some people are calling a real-life Saul Goodman.

Links

No Pardons, No Votes: https://pardonsnow.com/

J.G. Michael's other podcast, Parallax Views: https://parallaxviews.podbean.com/

More Failed State Update Podcasts: https://roundtable.io/failed-state-update/podcasts