A former college star basketball player from America who was arrested in Indonesia for possession of cannabis is now languishing in prison, praying for a “miracle.”
Jarred Shaw, 35, was detained by Indonesian police last year on suspicion of drug trafficking after he received a package of cannabis gummies from Thailand that he’d purchased to deal with symptoms of his Crohn’s disease, according to USA Today.
View video footage of his arrest below:
Momen Penangkapan Pebasket AS Jarred Shaw Terkait Ganja di Tangerang
Polisi juga mengungkap bahwa ada rencana untuk mengirim permen narkoba dari Thailand itu dalam jumlah besar. Atas perbuatannya, Jarred Shaw dijerat dengan pasal berlapis dan terancam hukuman mati. pic.twitter.com/ZFBVBpLC7I
— detikcom (@detikcom) May 15, 2025
He was later convicted in December and sentenced to 26 months in prison. This, despite it having been proven during his trial that he needed hospitalization for his Crohn’s disease — hospitalization that he still hasn’t received.
“Yeah, I committed a crime I wasn’t aware of — you know, the laws and stiff here,” Shaw told USA Today for an interview published this Thursday.
“But I feel like the most important thing for me right now, and that’s to get back to Texas so I can get to a doctor, get back to my family, to my mom. I just need to get deported back to America, so I can get back to taking care of myself,” he added.
American pro hooper Jarred Shaw avoids the death penalty and gets sentenced to 26 months in an Indonesian prison. 😳 pic.twitter.com/tM1p4IkJJx
— My Mixtapez (@mymixtapez) December 11, 2025
His hope is for a miracle.
“Some days are better than others. It’s not where it needs to be. I still feel sick quite often. I am asking for sympathy, and hopefully a miracle can happen,” he said.
And a miracle is indeed exactly what he appears to need.
“According to Shaw’s legal team and medical documents … his condition is dire, as his health is deteriorating,” according to USA Today. “He is suffering from three active infections, gastrointestinal bleeding, and complications from Crohn’s disease that require specialized care unavailable at his current facility.”
He specifically needs a gastroscopy, colonoscopy, polypectomy, intestinal ultrasound, and a CT enterography.
The video below shows both Shaw at his arraignment and some of the cannabis gummies he’d been caught with:
Atlet basket asal Amerika Serikat (AS) Jarred Dwayne Shaw (34) menyelundupkan narkoba mengandung ganja yang dikemas menyerupai permen.
Untuk mengelabui petugas Bea Cukai, Jarred memilih sendiri kemasan narkotika itu seolah seperti kemasan vitamin.
~J #Narkoba #Basket #Atlet… pic.twitter.com/OupyOLyqkG
— Kompas.com (@kompascom) May 15, 2025
The one thing Shaw does have going for him is that he’s been receiving support from Donte West, an international criminal justice advocate; Vlasic Labs, which helps raise money for nonviolent drug inmates; and Roger Volodarsky, the CEO of the cannabis company PuffCo.
West in particular is an expert on such matters — he was “sentenced to seven years and eight months in a Kansas prison in 2017 for marijuana possession as a first-time offender,” according to USA Today.
However, his sentence was eventually overturned, and better yet, he was eventually exonerated.
As for Shaw, he spends his days exercising, talking to his family via phone, and working on a book.
“I’m a simple guy,” he told USA Today. “I really don’t do too much. I don’t really go outside my space. You know, it’s freezing already. I’m not here to really make friends or anything. I just stick to my stuff. But my day-to-day, it is just that I try to take a little medicine that they give me, but it’s not really helping.”
His advocates are hoping the Trump administration will eventually intervene just like the Biden administration had intervened on behalf of Brittney Griner.
“You’ll see how crazy the Indonesian prison is, so it’s just like, he has a real story to tell, and I think people make a big deal about this, and, you know, Brittney Griner got all this publicity, because of course she had the whole WNBA backing her,” West said.
West has reportedly reached out to Secretary of State Marco Rubio and U.S. Ambassador to Indonesia Peter Haymond on Shaw’s behalf. West believes Shaw is the “perfect person” deserving a break.
“I don’t think extended incarceration of Jarred Shaw protects the country of Indonesia,” he said. “That’s our goal. And, just in case the State Department doesn’t come get Jarred Shaw, I think there’s remission. Hopefully, there’s some type of parole mechanism, a medical parole.”
“One good thing we do have is the doctor’s documents that say that he requires medical attention, and hopefully they honor that in the different governments of Indonesia,” he added.
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V. Saxena is a staff writer with a decade of experience as a professional writer, and a lifetime of experience as an avid news junkie. He holds a degree in computer technology from Purdue University. Saxena also contributes to BizPac Review.
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