By Darren Smith, Weekend Contributor
Nearly a year and a half ago we featured a story describing the plight of the “Kettle Falls Five” who were arrested by the federal Drug Enforcement Agency on charges relating to marijuana cultivation and firearms violations. I am reprinting here portions of my previous article which has many details of the original case. Now, three of these defendants were sentenced to federal prison.
The confusion as to what constitutes lawful medical marijuana grows with federal deference and ten year punishments for doing so, the United States Department of Justice prosecuted five rural Eastern Washington residents accused of growing seventy-four medical marijuana plants in a private collective. Washington State is a Medical Marijuana State. The accused include a seventy year old man who states he uses the medicine to treat pain from a job related injury, his wife for her arthritis, and their son. The patriarch of the family, the accused Larry Harvey, had the charges dropped but has since died of cancer.
While state law at the time permitted the cultivation of up to forty-five plants, federal law prohibits any cultivation. Originally confusion of the numbers of plants that might be permissible under state law (in aggregate) should take into consideration that multiple individuals had separate grows and this led to a misunderstanding. While the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office told the accused to remove those plants in excess of the amounts allowed, the DEA later arrived and raided their farms.
What compounds the severity for these five individuals is that within the thirty-three acre property, two of the defendants’ residence had inside several firearms, including rifles which are used by the family to hunt and for protection from wild animals. Firearms are very common in residences in rural Eastern Washington. Yet, the firearms in relation to the marijuana grow add an additional five year minimum sentence, adding to the defendants’ minimum of ten years imprisonment, something the senior defendant claimed to be a “death sentence.”
What is rather extraordinary in this effort by the department of justice, despite guidelines in not allocating resources to prosecute medical marijuana patients, the defendants claim it was a misunderstanding of Washington’s medical marijuana laws that caused them to go from legal users to being potentially imprisoned for ten years. Many viewed this case as necessitating jury nullification.
At the federal trial, the defendants were not permitted to mention that medical treatment was the reason for these grows, though it was allowed during closing arguments.
Federal prosecutors alleged the five were conspiring to manufacture and distribute marijuana and possession of firearms in relation to drug trafficking. The defendants deny they intended to distribute the marijuana and claim they grow the marijuana for their own usage. They faced a minimum of ten years imprisonment if convicted on all charges. Though the prosecution attempted to convince the jury that one hundred plants were being grown, and therefore necessitating a greater penalty, the jury did not agree yet found them however guilty in the growing of less than one hundred.
According to Americans for Safe Access, a group that advocates cannabis for medicinal and research use, 100,000 Washingtonians use medical marijuana. Presently there are about thirty state licensed retail marijuana growers who are permitted under state law to grow thousands of plants for distribution to eventually several hundred licensed marijuana retailers.
But there has been irregular enforcement and ambiguity with regard to the federal Drug Enforcement Agency and the Office of the US Attorney. The office posted guidelines in August of 2013 listing priorities and what resources the federal government would consider in whether to prosecute marijuana grows or uses. A copy of this guideline can be found HERE
Within this memorandum one of the guidelines seems to be permissive on this incident:
The Department’s previous memoranda specifically addressed the exercise of prosecutorial discretion in states with laws authorizing marijuana cultivation and distribution for medical use. In those contexts, the Department advised that it is likely was not an efficient use of federal resources to focus enforcement efforts on seriously ill individuals, or on their individual caregivers. In doing so, the previous guidance drew a distinction between the seriously ill and their caregivers, on the one hand, and large-scale, for-profit commercial enterprises, on the other, and advised that the latter continued to be appropriate targets for federal enforcement and prosecution. In drawing this distinction, the Department relied on the common-sense judgment that the size of a marijuana operation was a reasonable proxy for assessing whether marijuana trafficking implicates the federal enforcement priorities set forth above.
The memorandum does not confer any rights or defenses, according to its wording, but purports itself to be a guide to prosecutions and delegation of federal resources.
The underlying incident that brought about this prosecution, reportedly ready for trial in June, allegedly happened in August of 2012 when a sheriff’s deputy arrived at the home of 70 year old Larry Harvey to cut down SOME of his marijuana plants, telling the patients state law only allows forty five plants among a collective grow. The plants originally were alleged to have been sixty eight in number. Mr. Harvey stated he believed he was in compliance because under Washington’s Medical Marijuana Laws, a medical marijuana patient is permitted to grow fifteen plants themselves and among the five of them, they should have been permitted to grow seventy five plants.
Apparently, the sheriff’s office then notified the federal DEA which then arrived at Larry’s home, seized his marijuana plants along with eight of his firearms.
Essentially Larry was put into this jeopardy of his freedom because of numbers. According to Washington Law he could not have more than forty five plants in one collective but if he had instead divided the garden into three areas, perhaps leasing the land to the other defendants, he would have been in compliance. But, since he was allegedly out of compliance the DEA went after them. If the deputy in this case would have recognized this was simply a misinterpretation of the law, according to Larry, a teachable moment might have corrected the matter. Why the DEA was called is unknown. But along with this alleged numbers game, the DEA drew in to the firearms issue to rack up another potential five year penalty. There is a strong possibility the government will seize their farmland.
Here are the sentences of the remaining defendants as handed down by U.S. District Court Judge Thomas Rice:
- Rhonda Firestack-Harvey, One year and one day in federal prison
- Rolland Gregg, Thirty-three months imprisonment
- Michelle Gregg, One year and one day imprisonment
Scapegoats of the empire
By Darren Smith
Sources:
USNews
KREM News
KXLY
NextNewsNetwork
US Department of Justice
The views expressed in this posting are the author’s alone and not those of the blog, the host, or other weekend bloggers. As an open forum, weekend bloggers post independently without pre-approval or review. Content and any displays or art are solely their decision and responsibility.
Paul, this one is for you from Yeshua Messiah. Just a few words from the Teacher Himself. Looks like He saw ya coming.
18 He who believes in Him {Jesus} [who clings to, trusts in, relies on Him] is not judged [he who trusts in Him never comes up for judgment; for him there is no rejection, no condemnation he incurs no damnation]; but he who does not believe (cleave to, rely on, trust in Him) is judged already [he has already been convicted and has already received his sentence] because he has not believed in and trusted in the name of the only begotten Son of God. [He is condemned for refusing to let his trust rest in Christ’s name.]
19 The [basis of the] judgment (indictment, the test by which men are judged, the ground for the sentence) lies in this: the Light has come into the world, and people have loved the darkness rather than and more than the Light, for their works (deeds) were evil.
20 For every wrongdoer hates (loathes, detests) the Light, and will not come out into the Light but shrinks from it, lest his works (his deeds, his activities, his conduct) be exposed and reproved.
Amplified Bible, Classic Edition
{Jesus} is the only addition, for clarity.
Deny all ya want. But it so obvious that you have no clue what you are talking about regarding the Bible.
SamFox
World travel is not on my priority list at this point in my life… Geez, I thought my post would rile some people up a little. Did I make sense? Hooray! Here’s a good Dan Mitchell post on being Libertarian!
“Some people confuse being libertarian with being libertine.
I’m sometimes asked, for instance, if I’m a libertarian because I want to smoke pot or do other drugs.
I respond that I’ve never done drugs and have no desire to use drugs.
Then I’m asked if I’m a libertarian because I want to gamble.
I respond by saying that I don’t gamble, even when I’m in Las Vegas or some other place where it’s legal.
Sometimes I’m asked if I’m libertarian because I want to use prostitutes.
I respond by explaining that I’d never patronize a prostitute because I want to at least be under the illusion that a woman actually wants to be with me.
At this point, some people conclude I’m boring, and that may be true, but this is also the point where I try to educate them about the libertarian philosophy.”
https://danieljmitchell.wordpress.com/2014/08/04/libertarianism-and-human-decency/
This should be entirely a state issue. Wickard v Filburn rears its ugly head once again.
Paul
Carson takes the bible literally. Of course the stuff that happened was used to create the fairy tales that gave the various authors credibility and the old ‘holier than thou’ feeling necessary to vanquish foes etc. Carson states in 98 in a speech and reconfirms his hypotheses that buildings that are 95% wall and 5% container were built by his ‘heroes’ to store grain.
Granaries have been built throughout the millennia. Some of stone were built above ground on stilts to control rat infestation. Some earlier granaries were nothing but subterranean rooms filled with clay receptacles filled with grain and other stores. Lots of stuff was thought to be other stuff but stating and reiterating that the pyramids were built as granaries is simply stupid. Just because Carson has a steady hand and is a good brain mechanic doesn’t equate that he will make a good President. When you add up the other stuff, he is downright scary. The world cannot afford a thumper in charge of the US.
We do know that other Mediterranean cultures built granaries that were first thought to be tombs.
Paul
In other words, you got nothing. Archeological studies have found that the Egyptians and other ancient civilizations stored grain in large clay receptacles in regular old orthogonal type rooms. Carson is a nut case and when he refers to the bible and his other fantasies one has to wonder just what he would be like as a President of the most dangerous country in the world. Of course there is much to know. There is also quite a lot that is already known. That is constantly evident from reading these posts.
issacbasonkavich – archaeology has had to back track many times over the years. I would stake my fortune on what the current crop say. I am not familiar with the exact reference that Carson made, however I do know that the Israelites were probably working in Pi-Ramseses, which is referred to in the Bible. A careful reading of the Bible can teach you all sorts of things.
Hands down, this has been the most civil week on the Turley blog during my tenure here. Kudos.
G Mason, Thanks for the montage of clips showing Obama lying about his stance on cannabis. He’s a hypocrite on so many issues but this is up there.
Outlaw tobacco!
The American thesis is freedom and self-reliance.
Americans have the freedom to ingest any substance they choose.
The government is charged with maintaining Justice and Tranquility with laws against DUI, disorderly conduct, assault, battery, rape, murder, theft, robbery, vandalism, etc.
American governance has no authority to dictate consumption or ingestion.
It must enforce against misbehavior.
I suspect there is a profit motive hiding deep within American drug laws.
Michael Brown had to have his cigarillos. So he strong arm robbed the joint. Instead of going to the joint (prison) he assaulted the inquiring mind cop. He went for the gun. He be dead. He is from Section 8 housing. Do away with welfare for teens who get knocked up and do away with Section 8 housing projects in Dellwood. Or Jennings or where ever he lived with his grandma. And welfare as we know it. No more illegals. Build up that wall. Drain the swamps. Bring jobs back to Detroit. Make America great. Deport the Koch Brothers. They are not worth all the tea in China. It is Sunday and I missed The Donald show last night. It was not on our tv. I am looking on the computer for a re-run after I quit barking into the machine here. Woof.
Oh, and what did Michael Brown steal from that convenience store in his strong arm robbery? Tobacco. It ought to be illegal.
“Cigarette ashes, cigarette butts..
We got the other team by the nuts.
Pull team pull!”
That is a song I heard some Ferguson guys chant in a bar in Ferguson. They thought smoking was bad 50 years ago when they were in high school at McCluer High in Ferguson. They are against pot too. This is a bi racial group at the bar. McCluer was integrated 50 years ago. All this defamation of Ferguson in the media is appalling. I wonder who is behind it. The media says that Ferguson is bigoted but it is now 70% black. They (blacks included) voted in a white Mayor. So the media thinks it is bad. If Michael Brown had been a white fleeing felon who attacked a cop we would not have had this media narrative. Would he be dead? Yes. Would CNN have a story? No.
The government has no right to tell you what you can and can not put in your body. It *should* educate people about all the effects, side effects, and downsides to *whatever* substance. If someone were stoned and driving and killed someone, take that into consideration for their sentencing. Same with alcohol. It shouldn’t be the altered state of mind which is punished, but the actions committed by the individual while altered. “Under the influence of *whatever*” can be no excuse for your irresponsible behavior, and like I said, could compound the sentence. At the very least low levels dismissed in regards to charges, higher levels on the individual basis could be reviewed for stricter sentencing(200lb man drinks regularly, a few beers a night vs 125lb woman has a drink with friends, not a drinker, and drives home). This can lead to people behaving more responsibly, without infringing their freedom. While it could no longer be illegal to drive with alcohol in your system – just know that if you kill someone by accident that the alcohol has a potential to compound your sentence. This can lead to greater conscientiousness, as well as self and situational awareness. Net plus all around.
Here’s where it’s politicians A) don’t understand basic economics, B) are evil, C) both.
I’ll explain: Nature abhors a vacuum! People like to get f*cked up, or, buzzed, or whatever level for their personal constitution. There is clearly a market for these mind altering substances, no matter what they are. By mindlessly declaring them ‘illegal’, the government has effectively removed the entire market and it’s population from the light, to the black market. Totally unregulated. When people have disputes via black market goods, they are unable to rectify in a court of law- because of the government. This leads directly to them settling disputes with their own extra-legal methods. Then everyone complains about the violent gangs and urban drug rings.
We also have the potential for drugs being cut with other substances to boost profit, which could be lethal depending on the products used to cut (or lace, with pot), and no way to screen for it. If the government regulated all the substances, it would be safer for people who wanted to try. Hell, maybe make them sign a waver at the counter as they purchase, and maybe something like NICS for stoners? Ya know, so the crazies we’re not allowed to lock up don’t just go buy some bath salts and eat someone’s face. ‘Oh, I’m sorry sir, you can’t buy those salts.. You have not passed our NISSL (National Instant Safe Stoner List). Maybe a better acronym to not out all the closet stoners. Right to privacy, ya know?
Then there’s the waste. The FedGov should stick to it’s enumerated powers, and leave this stuff up to the states. All they do is waste waste waste and terrorize citizens with this drug war. I’m sure some bad people get their comeuppance, but this whole ‘war’ is antithetical to American liberty. It is a war on freedom, like so many of the other wars the FedGov is fighting against it’s people. The bureaucracies only grow larger, suck up more tax dollars, and beat down on citizens to justify their existence.
—-
Also note the failure of Colorado to bring in it’s projected tax revenue with the newly legalized pot. You idiots taxed it too high! If the tax is too high, people will still use the black market.
I buy used power tools of craigslist. No taxes, and cheap. Not to mention I try get USA made stuff from the 60s (or whenever) which just have such better quality than the modern sh*t from China and Taiwan. The money goes directly to a person who has listed what they think the item is worth, and is paid by someone who thinks the item is worth it’s listed price (sometimes haggle, but usually CL is good deals already). That’s how the free market works. People making decisions for themselves, and contracting directly with other people also making decisions for themselves. Usually good people on CL – your word is bond there. If they don’t (or you don’t) send a phone number, you’re not serious, get lost.
Free markets, free people.
Steg – the legal maximum BAC in Budapest is 0.00. Just a little heads up for your world travels. 😉
1.HSBC launders over a billion dollars in cartel drug money, admits it, gets wrist slap equal to ten days profits.
2. One out of ten commercial warehouses in Denver hold commercial marijuana grows. What DOJ?
3. Harmless rural people grow pot in a state where it is legal: throw the book at them.
Was our country always like this?
If I wasn’t over 70 I’d spend more time contemplating the handwriting on the wall.
I might also be sympathetic to the growers because my own German grandmother brewed beer during Prohibition.
I think this prosecution was a misguided waste of resources.
I also think that we need to resolve this discrepancy between state and federal law regarding medical marijuana. It is unfair for citizens caught in the middle, and we should also allow a learning curve for such new laws. If all that was needed to bring them into compliance would be chopping down some plants, or leasing the garden into 3 parcels, then such a remedy should have been offered. And prosecuting someone dying of cancer for growing medical marijuana should not have been pursued due to prosecutorial discretion.
And I also believe that they need to remove the firearms restriction specifically with medical marijuana growing. This is not drug trafficking cocaine. Eastern Washington is a rural area, and the government should not make lawful citizens choose between giving up their 2nd Amendment right, and in so doing forgoing subsistence hunting, or legally growing marijuana. There are also safety considerations, because I think this is the most common crop to be stolen, bar none.
I say this even though my opinion on medical marijuana is mixed. I think it must be legalized in order to study its medical benefits more thoroughly, as its current status makes clinical studies problematic. I also think it is a grave error to continually breed it to be more potent. The last time I checked, it was 7 times more potent than it was in the 70s. That would make this sedative have the potential for abuse. I also think that smoking it will eventually be tied to cancer, because the process inevitably releases carcinogens when almost any material burns. So other means of consumption would be better. I also think that a great many people abuse the medical qualifications, and you have a bunch of 20 year olds smoking it “for stress.” And of course you should not drive on it, because it impairs the driver. That will necessitate changes to field sobriety testing, and there needs to be public service messages regarding the fact that marijuana persists in the system far longer than alcohol.
Regardless, I think the benefits are there, and it should be legalized but regulated.
There is only one legitimate religion: Eighth Day Dog Adventism. All the rest are chump change. Dr. Carson is a nitwit. The tightrope between insanity and freedom is real. Do not vote for any candidate who does not have a dog and who does not seek guidance from the dog. Those who go to church are chumps.
Hey it gets better. A surprisingly large percentage of Americans want to put a thumper in the White House. Ben Carson believes in the bible, word for word. He believes that Genesis is actual history and that some Israeli named Joseph was prime minister for one of the Pharaohs. He believes that the pyramids were built to store grain; structures that are 95% wall and 5% space were built to store grain. And he is running for President. And he is leading, guess who in second place, Trump. America is a tightrope between insanity and freedom.
issacbasonkavichi – there are literally hundred of pyramids in Egypt, most have never been excavated. The Jews that Carson is talking about were probably working on Pi-Ramseses. Little work has been done there yet. And we just found that Tutenaken’s tomb has two secret chambers. There is much to be learned.
America’s mental illness is showing…again.
A comment on jury selection: for the last two juries that I served on, the prosecutors made special efforts to select compliant individuals who were dumber than rocks.