Federal prosecutors Tuesday filed drug-distribution charges against a Highlands Ranch man who operated a massive basement marijuana garden that he said served medical-marijuana patients.
Chris Bartkowicz was charged with a single count in U.S. District Court and could face up to 40 years in prison and a $2 million fine, according to a court document.
Drug Enforcement Administration agents raided Bartkowicz's suburban home last week and seized 224 marijuana plants after he bragged about his basement garden in a television news report.
Bartkowicz told federal agents and 9News that he is a medical-marijuana patient and grows the marijuana to sell to other patients and dispensaries. Colorado voters approved the medicinal use of marijuana for certain patients in 2000, but Colorado U.S. Attorney David Gaouette said marijuana cultivation and distribution is still a federal crime, regardless of the drug's use.
"It's not unusual that we're presented with marijuana cases," Gaouette said.
The case is, however, the first high-profile federal prosecution in Colorado since the issuance of a Justice Department memo last year that told federal officials to lay off people operating in "clear and unambiguous" compliance with their state's medical-marijuana laws.
The memo says law enforcement officials should continue to pursue people who use state laws as a cover for illegal activities, including those who have more plants or are making more money than the state's law would seem to allow.
Bartkowicz's arrest affidavit says he could show DEA agents only 12 patient-registry cards naming him as a caregiver, leading agents to conclude he was growing well more than the six plants per patient that caregivers are allowed under state law. "He is certainly not clearly and unambiguously in compliance with state law," Gaouette said.
Had Bartkowicz been charged in state court, Colorado's constitution would have allowed him to argue as an "affirmative defense" that he is not guilty because all the plants were for medicinal use. But Gaouette said the Justice Department memo does not require federal prosecutors to first prove a violation of state law before pursuing a federal case, and Bartkowicz's medicinal defense will be meaningless in federal court, which doesn't recognize an exemption for medical marijuana.
Bartkowicz made his first appearance in court Tuesday and is scheduled later this week for a hearing on whether he should remain in custody.
In the meantime, local medical-marijuana attorney Rob Corry is continuing to press a complaint to the Justice Department's Office of the Inspector General, in which he charges that Bartkowicz's arrest and prosecution is a wasteful abuse of power in violation of the department's memo.
News Hawk- Weedpipe 420 Magazine - Cannabis Culture News & Reviews
Source: The Denver Post
Author: John Ingold
Contact: The Denver Post
Copyright: 2010 The Denver Post
Website:Metro medical-pot provider charged, faces 40 years - The Denver Post
Chris Bartkowicz was charged with a single count in U.S. District Court and could face up to 40 years in prison and a $2 million fine, according to a court document.
Drug Enforcement Administration agents raided Bartkowicz's suburban home last week and seized 224 marijuana plants after he bragged about his basement garden in a television news report.
Bartkowicz told federal agents and 9News that he is a medical-marijuana patient and grows the marijuana to sell to other patients and dispensaries. Colorado voters approved the medicinal use of marijuana for certain patients in 2000, but Colorado U.S. Attorney David Gaouette said marijuana cultivation and distribution is still a federal crime, regardless of the drug's use.
"It's not unusual that we're presented with marijuana cases," Gaouette said.
The case is, however, the first high-profile federal prosecution in Colorado since the issuance of a Justice Department memo last year that told federal officials to lay off people operating in "clear and unambiguous" compliance with their state's medical-marijuana laws.
The memo says law enforcement officials should continue to pursue people who use state laws as a cover for illegal activities, including those who have more plants or are making more money than the state's law would seem to allow.
Bartkowicz's arrest affidavit says he could show DEA agents only 12 patient-registry cards naming him as a caregiver, leading agents to conclude he was growing well more than the six plants per patient that caregivers are allowed under state law. "He is certainly not clearly and unambiguously in compliance with state law," Gaouette said.
Had Bartkowicz been charged in state court, Colorado's constitution would have allowed him to argue as an "affirmative defense" that he is not guilty because all the plants were for medicinal use. But Gaouette said the Justice Department memo does not require federal prosecutors to first prove a violation of state law before pursuing a federal case, and Bartkowicz's medicinal defense will be meaningless in federal court, which doesn't recognize an exemption for medical marijuana.
Bartkowicz made his first appearance in court Tuesday and is scheduled later this week for a hearing on whether he should remain in custody.
In the meantime, local medical-marijuana attorney Rob Corry is continuing to press a complaint to the Justice Department's Office of the Inspector General, in which he charges that Bartkowicz's arrest and prosecution is a wasteful abuse of power in violation of the department's memo.
News Hawk- Weedpipe 420 Magazine - Cannabis Culture News & Reviews
Source: The Denver Post
Author: John Ingold
Contact: The Denver Post
Copyright: 2010 The Denver Post
Website:Metro medical-pot provider charged, faces 40 years - The Denver Post
