Yasquasia Delcarmen was remanded into custody the day her federal sentence came down. Her son was 11 months old. She has missed his first steps, his first Christmas and his first birthday.
Editor’s note: This story was updated on October 5, 2026, to include details of the federal case and to remove a statement that no violence was involved, which did not reflect how prosecutors described the organization she was part of. The case details were added by High Times editors.
Yasquasia Delcarmen is 29 years old. She is a mother, a musician, and an aspiring screenwriter. She was pursuing a creative career, studying communications and journalism, and raising her infant son when a federal sentence of 8 years, followed by a term of supervised release, brought everything to a halt. She has been in federal custody since her sentencing in December 2024.
The Case
According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Florida, Delcarmen pleaded guilty in June 2024 to conspiracy to distribute 50 kilograms or more of marijuana and conspiracy to commit money laundering. Prosecutors said she served as a manager and supervisor in an armed drug trafficking organization led by her boyfriend, Nathaniel Hatcher III, that flew marijuana from Northern California to Jacksonville, and that after his arrest in February 2024, she conducted drug trafficking activities on his behalf while he was incarcerated. Prosecutors also said that, at Hatcher’s direction, she publicly posted the identity of a witness on social media in an effort to intimidate that person, and that after her own arrest she violated a court-ordered no-contact condition with Hatcher more than 1,000 times. Prosecutors said she was responsible for between 100 and 400 kilograms of marijuana and for laundering at least $1.7 million. She was ordered to forfeit $1,760,210. She was not charged with a violent crime or a firearms offense.
Yasquasia is telling her story because she hopes it will make a difference. This is her story, in her own words.
A Creative Life, Cut Short
Before her arrest, Yasquasia had been pursuing a career as a music artist for years, and studying communications and journalism because writing had always been a passion. She describes herself as someone who had talent and possibility right in front of her, but who hadn’t yet slowed down enough to fully embrace it.
“I had a lot of opportunities to really make something of that. I feel like I just didn’t slow down long enough to embrace the talents I had in front of me.”
She has not let go of those dreams. From inside, she has decided to pick up her writing again and pursue screenwriting.
A Crashing Wave
When the sentence came down, Yasquasia nearly collapsed.
“Receiving a 96-month sentence hit me like a crashing wave. It was a lot. It devastated my family. A moment I’ll never forget. I almost passed out, to be honest.”
She was remanded into custody the same day, while her son was 11 months old.
Nearly two years in, the weight of that sentence hasn’t disappeared. But Yasquasia says she has found a way to carry it, staying productive and taking it one day at a time.
A Mother Behind Bars
If there is one thread that runs through everything Yasquasia shares, it is her son. He was 11 months old when she was taken into custody. He is now two. In the months between, she has missed his first steps, his first Christmas, and his first birthday.
“It’s tough. But it’s important to stay uplifted, so I focus on the positives. He is well taken care of. I have an amazing support system. He’s happy, healthy, and safe, and knowing that puts my heart at so much ease.”
She does not excuse the choices that led her here.
“My son definitely means the world to me. I messed up putting myself in this situation to be away from him, but I’ve had to forgive myself and get up every day to work on being the best version of myself I can be so I can come home to him.”
Just Being Here
When asked about her greatest daily challenges, Yasquasia’s answer is simple and total: just being here. Being away from home, away from comfort, away from family, away from her own life.
What keeps her going, she says, is faith and purpose: keeping close to God and locking in on things that contribute to her growth.
What Yasquasia Wants You to Know
If Yasquasia could speak directly to lawmakers, judges, prosecutors, and advocates, she would ask them to think harder about what punishment is actually supposed to accomplish.
“It didn’t take giving me 96 months for me to understand where I went wrong. Sitting here for years for my first legal mistake is not beneficial to me or my child.”
She also speaks to the mechanics of the federal system itself, the way cooperation with prosecutors can dramatically reduce a sentence. She finds that dynamic hard to reconcile with any straightforward idea of justice.
“If my crime is bad and you want to punish me for it, unless I give you what you want, is it really that bad? A lot of stuff just doesn’t make sense.”
“I can only hope and pray that things change, and soon.”
A Question of Proportion
Federal marijuana sentencing has not changed at the pace of state legalization. Delcarmen’s eight years reflect large-scale trafficking and money laundering charges, which prosecutors treat as serious crimes regardless of the substance. Her family and advocates argue that the sentence is out of proportion for a first offense involving a drug now sold legally in much of the country. She has been in custody since December 2024, with a term of supervised release to follow.
“I hope what I’m going through, and what others like me are going through, stops happening.”
Last Prisoner Project is working to match Yasquasia with a pro bono attorney to file her clemency petition. She is also enrolled in the organization’s letter-writing program.
Want to write to Yasquasia or another incarcerated cannabis prisoner? Visit the Last Prisoner Project’s letter-writing program.
Mary Bailey is Managing Director of Last Prisoner Project. Yasquasia Delcarmen is an LPP constituent. Case details are drawn from federal court records and Justice Department statements.
