FRANKLIN COUNTY, Mo. – A man featured in a November 2019 Fox Files report for serving prison time for pot has died.

Steven Sutherland died in a Potosi prison natural causes.

Last November, Sutherland told Fox 2 he feared his nine-year prison term would be a de facto life sentence because of his poor health.

In June 2019, a Franklin County jury convicted Sutherland of marijuana possession and unlawful use of drug paraphernalia. Sutherland admitted in court that he was using marijuana when officers raided a 400-acre property he watched over and lived on. 

Sutherland was already a felon due to a prior conviction for marijuana in 1996.

One of the original investigating officers said Sutherland had long guns on the property at the time of his arrest, which was prohibited because of his prior conviction. And while the charge of felon in possession of firearms did not appear on Sutherland’s court record, that was considered during sentencing.