On April 16, longtime Milwaukee resident, bartender and musician Matthew “Matty" Thomas Gonzales was passing through Abu Dhabi to board a Royal Caribbean ship. The nature of his trip was business; he works for a communications subcontractor and was planning on providing cabling and wiring aboard the ship. This trip was stopped short, as he was detained in the Abu Dhabi airport for having a prescription medication called Tramadol. He did not have his prescription with him, nor had he registered the medicine prior to entering, which is the requirement in UAE.
He is currently at Al Wathba prison in the desert of Abu Dhabi. Upon providing proper documentation and seeing a local doctor to confirm his condition of dislocated shoulders and back pain, he was declared innocent on all of the charges regarding possession of Tramadol. However, the judge still sentenced him to two years in prison for not following procedures regarding transport of prescription medication into Abu Dhabi.
The Nomad World Pub will be holding a fundraiser on June 25 from noon-midnight for Gonzales and his family who have acquired extensive legal fees in this ordeal.
There will be live music with a jam session hosted by Jeff Hamilton (Violent Femmes, Beatallica, The Probers). Special guests include members of The Cocksmiths, Kiss Me I’m Sick, GoTown, The Carpet Baggers, 4th St Elevators, Milwaukee Hot Club ///Liv Mueller, Matt MF Tyner and many more throughout the day.
|
|
The Nomad will donate all proceeds of the Prix Fix to the cause. There will be items for sale as well as silent auction items. There will also be limited edition t-shirts and posters that all of the proceeds will go towards Gonzales’s legal fees.
Donations can be made via PayPal using this email address: freematty@outlook.com. Please contact your local representative and make them aware of this and use #freematty in your tweets to your elected officials.
