My son Jeremy Zahn was charged as the leader of a narcotics network in ocean county, New Jersey. It was marajuana and only marajuana that he sold. During the 17 months he was held at ocean county jail he was given many different offers. Not once was the statue 2C:35-12 brought to his attention when he signed for a 16 year prison sentence with 8 years being ineligible for parole. He made bail September 9, 2014. He was preparing himself not only for doing time, but was also working diligently, as he was told by his lawyer, in the hopes of getting a lower sentence. The statue 2C:35-12 was brought up in court at the motion hearing weeks after the judge had given him a lower sentence. This shows the judge was also unaware of the plea agreement with a mandatory minimums. Although I sought out another attorney and he assured me we could win the PCR, we do not have the funds to start all over at the beginning after vacating the sentence. I also do not trust the ocean county judicial system to give him a fair deal. Jeremy is a non-violent offender. He was one class shy of obtaining his civil engineering degree from New Jersey institute of technology. It seems so unfair with these harsh mandatory minimum. It's time we started giving those that deserve a second chance a break and let them prove to society they can truly live and learn.