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It's been a long strange trip this year for medical marijuana caregivers, especially Christopher Williams.
Williams is the only marijuana producer to challenge the federal government over its laws. He was convicted after brazenly acknowledging in court, before a 12-member jury, that he grew and distributed medical marijuana as part of the Helena-based Montana Cannabis partnership. He called himself the partnership's "farmer."
"Yes sir, I was growing marijuana at the State Nursery," Williams said in response to questioning from Assistant U.S. Attorney Joe Thaggard. "My hands were dirty every day."
"You were going to cultivate it?" Thaggard asked.
"Correct," Williams said.
"You were going to distribute it?"
"Correct."
"And you cultivated it with the intent to distribute?"
"Correct."
Those all are elements of four of the charges Williams faced involving manufacturing, distributing and possessing marijuana, and forming a conspiracy to do so; four other charges involved possession of a firearm during a drug offense.
The confession came six months after Williams was indicted by a federal grand jury. But his journey goes back to 2004, when 62 percent of Montanans voted to allow "caregivers" to grow and distribute marijuana for patients with debilitating medical conditions.
Medical marijuana numbers rise
The number of patients and providers was relatively low but creeping upward from 2005 through 2007, ranging from 86 to 570 patients and 35 to 195 providers. The numbers continued their slow climb as more patients took advantage of medical marijuana, but exploded to a high of 30,000 card-carrying qualifying patients and 4,800 providers in 2011 after the infamous October 2009 Ogden memo.
The memo by then-Deputy Attorney General David Ogden memo said that in states that have legalized it, medical marijuana sales should be a "low priority" for federal prosecutors. Taken with campaign statements made by Barack Obama, medical marijuana users and providers took it as evidence that the war on drugs was being scaled back.
Meanwhile, Williams, Richard Flor and Christopher Lindsey were growing and providing marijuana to patients individually, and in February 2009 they joined together, along with lobbyist Tom Daubert, to form the Helena-based Montana Cannabis.
Eventually, they had storefront "dispensaries" in Billings, Miles City, Missoula and Helena. They rented out the old State Nursery building on Highway 12 west, cultivating hundreds of plants. They also invited law enforcement officials to tour their establishment, touting that they were setting the "gold standard" in which each and every plant and finished product could be tracked to legitimate patients.
However, concerns about the proliferation of medical marijuana – with traveling caravans issuing cards to just about anyone who alleged having chronic pain – were looming both in Montana and nationwide.
Federal agents raid Montana Cannabis
On March 14, 2011, the same day that a state Senate committee rejected a bill to repeal Montana's medical marijuana law, federal agents raided 26 medical marijuana locations without warning, including Montana Cannabis.
The charges came shortly thereafter for most of the providers, including Richard Flor, his wife, Sherry, and their adult son Justin, who were indicted in June 2011, about the same time the U.S. Department of Justice "clarified" the Ogden memo. This time, Deputy Attorney General James Cole wrote that regardless of state law, prosecutors could exercise "discretion" in their district, and that state laws were not a defense to criminal acts under federal statutes.
It wasn't until February of 2012 that Williams was indicted by a grand jury and charged – a month after he took matters into his own hands and filed a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the federal government's campaign against marijuana. His constitutional challenge was dismissed, but is pending now before the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.
Unlike his former partners, all of whom took plea agreements to lesser charges, Williams vowed to fight the federal government in the criminal case. His trial in September included surreal moments with numerous garbage-bag-sized pouches of marijuana and a wide range of handguns and rifles exhibited as evidence; prosecutors and defense attorneys dancing around the term "medical marijuana," which was banned from the federal courtroom; and his blunt admission on the witness stand.
Williams was convicted on all counts and faced a mandatory minimum of 80 years in prison as well as the forfeiture $1.7 million.
In an unorthodox post-conviction turn of events, U.S. Attorney General for Montana Michael Cotter offered a plea agreement to Williams that dropped six of the eight charges. The conviction for conspiracy to grow and distribute marijuana, and possession of a firearm during a drug trafficking offense would stand; one count of manufacturing marijuana, two counts of possession with intent to distribute the drug and three counts of possession of a firearm during a drug trafficking offense would be dropped.
The agreement meant Williams could receive a sentence for as few as 10 years in prison.
Williams argued that his case wasn't about medical marijuana; instead, he believed that people were in charge of their government and they had spoken in Montana their beliefs on herbal medicine.
In a letter to the Independent Record, Williams wrote that "I have decided to fight the federal government, because for me not defending the things that I know are right is dishonorable. Every citizen has a responsibility to fight for what is right, even if it seems like the struggle will be lost.
"It is the power of the people to control this government that is supposed to protect us. If we shun this struggle, this government will control us instead of protecting us."
His attorney also noted in court documents that it appeared the federal government was trying to scare those who were indicted by filing a plethora of charges with lengthy prison terms that it never meant to impose in exchange for guilty pleas.
Voters spoke once again in November, scaling back Montana's law as to who could provide and use medical marijuana. As of November 2012, 8,400 patients were registered, with 207 providers.
The latest twist
The story took another odd turn this month, when Williams accepted a new post-conviction plea offered by the government. The convictions for one count of possessing a firearm in connection with drug trafficking and one count of possession with intent to distribute marijuana will stand. The government will drop the convictions for conspiracy to manufacture and possess marijuana with the intent to distribute; manufacture of marijuana; possession of marijuana with intent to distribute; and three counts of possessing a firearm in furtherance of a drug-trafficking crime. The forfeiture claim also is dropped.
He now faces a maximum term of five years for the distribution of marijuana charge and a mandatory minimum of five years – and a maximum of life – for the firearm-related charge.
Williams told a friend and spokesperson that it wasn't easy for him to give up his constitutional fight, but as he navigated the complex federal penal system, it became clear that punishment was the only thing that was guaranteed. With the rest of his life hanging in the balance, Williams said he couldn't stand the pressure anymore.
If the judge goes with the minimum sentence, Williams hopes to be present at his 16-year-old son's college graduation. He is slated to be sentenced Feb. 1, 2013, at the federal courthouse in Missoula.
News Hawk- TruthSeekr420 420 MAGAZINE
Source: heleair.com
Author: Eve Byron
Contact: helenair.com | Contact Us
Website: Medical marijuana advocate Christopher Williams has strange year
Williams is the only marijuana producer to challenge the federal government over its laws. He was convicted after brazenly acknowledging in court, before a 12-member jury, that he grew and distributed medical marijuana as part of the Helena-based Montana Cannabis partnership. He called himself the partnership's "farmer."
"Yes sir, I was growing marijuana at the State Nursery," Williams said in response to questioning from Assistant U.S. Attorney Joe Thaggard. "My hands were dirty every day."
"You were going to cultivate it?" Thaggard asked.
"Correct," Williams said.
"You were going to distribute it?"
"Correct."
"And you cultivated it with the intent to distribute?"
"Correct."
Those all are elements of four of the charges Williams faced involving manufacturing, distributing and possessing marijuana, and forming a conspiracy to do so; four other charges involved possession of a firearm during a drug offense.
The confession came six months after Williams was indicted by a federal grand jury. But his journey goes back to 2004, when 62 percent of Montanans voted to allow "caregivers" to grow and distribute marijuana for patients with debilitating medical conditions.
Medical marijuana numbers rise
The number of patients and providers was relatively low but creeping upward from 2005 through 2007, ranging from 86 to 570 patients and 35 to 195 providers. The numbers continued their slow climb as more patients took advantage of medical marijuana, but exploded to a high of 30,000 card-carrying qualifying patients and 4,800 providers in 2011 after the infamous October 2009 Ogden memo.
The memo by then-Deputy Attorney General David Ogden memo said that in states that have legalized it, medical marijuana sales should be a "low priority" for federal prosecutors. Taken with campaign statements made by Barack Obama, medical marijuana users and providers took it as evidence that the war on drugs was being scaled back.
Meanwhile, Williams, Richard Flor and Christopher Lindsey were growing and providing marijuana to patients individually, and in February 2009 they joined together, along with lobbyist Tom Daubert, to form the Helena-based Montana Cannabis.
Eventually, they had storefront "dispensaries" in Billings, Miles City, Missoula and Helena. They rented out the old State Nursery building on Highway 12 west, cultivating hundreds of plants. They also invited law enforcement officials to tour their establishment, touting that they were setting the "gold standard" in which each and every plant and finished product could be tracked to legitimate patients.
However, concerns about the proliferation of medical marijuana – with traveling caravans issuing cards to just about anyone who alleged having chronic pain – were looming both in Montana and nationwide.
Federal agents raid Montana Cannabis
On March 14, 2011, the same day that a state Senate committee rejected a bill to repeal Montana's medical marijuana law, federal agents raided 26 medical marijuana locations without warning, including Montana Cannabis.
The charges came shortly thereafter for most of the providers, including Richard Flor, his wife, Sherry, and their adult son Justin, who were indicted in June 2011, about the same time the U.S. Department of Justice "clarified" the Ogden memo. This time, Deputy Attorney General James Cole wrote that regardless of state law, prosecutors could exercise "discretion" in their district, and that state laws were not a defense to criminal acts under federal statutes.
It wasn't until February of 2012 that Williams was indicted by a grand jury and charged – a month after he took matters into his own hands and filed a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the federal government's campaign against marijuana. His constitutional challenge was dismissed, but is pending now before the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.
Unlike his former partners, all of whom took plea agreements to lesser charges, Williams vowed to fight the federal government in the criminal case. His trial in September included surreal moments with numerous garbage-bag-sized pouches of marijuana and a wide range of handguns and rifles exhibited as evidence; prosecutors and defense attorneys dancing around the term "medical marijuana," which was banned from the federal courtroom; and his blunt admission on the witness stand.
Williams was convicted on all counts and faced a mandatory minimum of 80 years in prison as well as the forfeiture $1.7 million.
In an unorthodox post-conviction turn of events, U.S. Attorney General for Montana Michael Cotter offered a plea agreement to Williams that dropped six of the eight charges. The conviction for conspiracy to grow and distribute marijuana, and possession of a firearm during a drug trafficking offense would stand; one count of manufacturing marijuana, two counts of possession with intent to distribute the drug and three counts of possession of a firearm during a drug trafficking offense would be dropped.
The agreement meant Williams could receive a sentence for as few as 10 years in prison.
Williams argued that his case wasn't about medical marijuana; instead, he believed that people were in charge of their government and they had spoken in Montana their beliefs on herbal medicine.
In a letter to the Independent Record, Williams wrote that "I have decided to fight the federal government, because for me not defending the things that I know are right is dishonorable. Every citizen has a responsibility to fight for what is right, even if it seems like the struggle will be lost.
"It is the power of the people to control this government that is supposed to protect us. If we shun this struggle, this government will control us instead of protecting us."
His attorney also noted in court documents that it appeared the federal government was trying to scare those who were indicted by filing a plethora of charges with lengthy prison terms that it never meant to impose in exchange for guilty pleas.
Voters spoke once again in November, scaling back Montana's law as to who could provide and use medical marijuana. As of November 2012, 8,400 patients were registered, with 207 providers.
The latest twist
The story took another odd turn this month, when Williams accepted a new post-conviction plea offered by the government. The convictions for one count of possessing a firearm in connection with drug trafficking and one count of possession with intent to distribute marijuana will stand. The government will drop the convictions for conspiracy to manufacture and possess marijuana with the intent to distribute; manufacture of marijuana; possession of marijuana with intent to distribute; and three counts of possessing a firearm in furtherance of a drug-trafficking crime. The forfeiture claim also is dropped.
He now faces a maximum term of five years for the distribution of marijuana charge and a mandatory minimum of five years – and a maximum of life – for the firearm-related charge.
Williams told a friend and spokesperson that it wasn't easy for him to give up his constitutional fight, but as he navigated the complex federal penal system, it became clear that punishment was the only thing that was guaranteed. With the rest of his life hanging in the balance, Williams said he couldn't stand the pressure anymore.
If the judge goes with the minimum sentence, Williams hopes to be present at his 16-year-old son's college graduation. He is slated to be sentenced Feb. 1, 2013, at the federal courthouse in Missoula.
News Hawk- TruthSeekr420 420 MAGAZINE
Source: heleair.com
Author: Eve Byron
Contact: helenair.com | Contact Us
Website: Medical marijuana advocate Christopher Williams has strange year
