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The proponent of the religious use of marijuana has been in jail for more than three years awaiting his trial
By Ken Kobayashi POSTED: 01:30 a.m. HST, Sep 25, 2013
Roger Christie was kept in prison after the courts agreed with prosecutors that he was a danger.
Hawaii island cannabis advocate Roger Christie is scheduled to plead guilty Friday to marijuana trafficking, charges that have kept him behind bars for more than three years awaiting trial.
Christie's wife, Sherryanne, is also scheduled to plead guilty, the two having reached a plea agreement in the case.
The Christies had been scheduled for trial next month. Details of their agreement have not been made public, but the two are expected to withdraw their not-guilty pleas and instead plead guilty before U.S. Magistrate Judge Richard Puglisi, according to the federal court calendar.
They would be sentenced at a later date. It is not clear how much more time Roger Christie would have to serve in prison since he would be credited for the nearly 31⁄4 years he has already spent in custody at the federal detention center. Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Kawa-hara declined to comment Tuesday, and the Christies' Thomas Otake and Lynn Pana-ga-kos could not be reached for comment.
Roger Christie, 63, who has become a cause celebre for marijuana supporters, had promoted the religious use of marijuana for years at The Hawaii Cannabis Ministry in Hilo before he was jailed.
During his time in custody, marijuana advocates and several community groups pressed for his release, saying keeping him imprisoned over the years was a violation of his constitutional rights.
Christie's court case also became part of the marijuana debate here and nationally. Since his arrest, voters in Washington and Colo-rado have legalized marijuana for personal use, and the Department of Justice has said it will not challenge those laws.
During the session of the state Legislature, the House Judiciary Committee heard a measure to legalize up to an ounce of pot before the committee tabled the measure. And some state senators said they believed Christie had been treated unfairly, signing a resolution that was never brought to a vote.
Christie's operation was shut down when he was arrested in July 2010.
The Christies and 12 others were charged in a federal grand jury indictment with marijuana trafficking.
Christie and his wife were also charged with conspiracy in connection with the case, charges that carry a prison term of five to 40 years.
Most of the others have pleaded guilty to marijuana-related charges and are awaiting sentencing.
Christie has maintained that marijuana was used as a sacrament in his ministry and that he should be shielded from prosecution under the federal Religious Freedom Restoration Act.
But U.S. District Judge Leslie Koba-ya-shi earlier this month ruled that the Christies could not use that defense.
Otake had contended earlier that Koba-ya-shi's ruling would be "extremely critical to our case."
Kobayashi's ruling cleared the way for the Oct. 8 trial.
Federal prosecutors had contended that the religious defense was a ploy to mask a large-scale marijuana-trafficking operation.
The federal indictment followed a two-year investigation by federal and Hawaii County law enforcement that resulted in the seizure of 2,296 marijuana plants, nine weapons, 33 pounds of processed marijuana and more than $21,000 in cash. The probe also included wiretaps that recorded thousands of calls on Christie's cellphone, phones at his home and at the THC ministry.
Christie's wife was allowed to be released on bond, but Christie was held without bail despite repeated requests for his release.
Federal judges here and the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals denied those requests, agreeing with prosecutors who maintained he would pose a danger to the community if he were to be set free.
Federal prosecutors had argued that authorities searched Christie's home and the ministry in March 2010, but he still continued his ministry until his arrest four months later. The Christies also lost a bid to suppress the recorded phone calls, which laid the foundation for the charges against them.
Based on those calls, federal prosecutors said the Christies indicated they had as many as 70 customers a day, sold about a half-pound of marijuana daily and made a profit of about $1,000 for each half-pound.
this was in the paper today, it sounded more like a gossip column, we haven't even written, or signed anything yet. shame on this journalism. once again they bring up about rifles and guns which Roger and I hadn't 0 any or knew about other people's guns, I'm still mad that they took my $900 for my Social Security check in the 1st government raid, which I was going to use on my holes in the roof cottage, the next time that we got raid they took my $700 that I saved up for new bed mattress because I was having so much back problems. that included in Rogers life savings of $21,000
I love my husband and he had the last say. I still wanted to go to court, but I see the larger picture of us plea-bargaining. I just despise having to get anything to the government including Rogers condo that his mother gave him. for taking care of her for over 20 years every winter Hawaii, bless her heart. that's probably been the hardest thing for me to swallow that Roger did not get to see his mother before she died last year. anyway I'm grateful that we get to fight for the larger picture of this. [ to End the war on drugs] for many of you that it's hard to understand written law, federal law especially, this is quite unusual that we get to appeal even though we're doing the plea bargain. as Roger has written
here today many blessings
Share Christie
@@@
Aloha. Get a grip; we are zero 'frightened'. We know how our judge rules; denying me reasonable bail, accepting the Schedule 1 for marijuana as rational, denying suppression of our unconstitutional wiretap evidence, denying us reasonable religious rights, denying us our RFRA motion. What's she gonna do with estopple?
Now that all the important issues have been removed from trial, what's the point of a trial? The importance of keeping all the above issues ALIVE and growing towards an appeal in San Francisco is what's primary. We can appeal from prison or from home. The choice was EASY.
All the best to everyone,
from Roger Christie
By Ken Kobayashi POSTED: 01:30 a.m. HST, Sep 25, 2013
Roger Christie was kept in prison after the courts agreed with prosecutors that he was a danger.
Hawaii island cannabis advocate Roger Christie is scheduled to plead guilty Friday to marijuana trafficking, charges that have kept him behind bars for more than three years awaiting trial.
Christie's wife, Sherryanne, is also scheduled to plead guilty, the two having reached a plea agreement in the case.
The Christies had been scheduled for trial next month. Details of their agreement have not been made public, but the two are expected to withdraw their not-guilty pleas and instead plead guilty before U.S. Magistrate Judge Richard Puglisi, according to the federal court calendar.
They would be sentenced at a later date. It is not clear how much more time Roger Christie would have to serve in prison since he would be credited for the nearly 31⁄4 years he has already spent in custody at the federal detention center. Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Kawa-hara declined to comment Tuesday, and the Christies' Thomas Otake and Lynn Pana-ga-kos could not be reached for comment.
Roger Christie, 63, who has become a cause celebre for marijuana supporters, had promoted the religious use of marijuana for years at The Hawaii Cannabis Ministry in Hilo before he was jailed.
During his time in custody, marijuana advocates and several community groups pressed for his release, saying keeping him imprisoned over the years was a violation of his constitutional rights.
Christie's court case also became part of the marijuana debate here and nationally. Since his arrest, voters in Washington and Colo-rado have legalized marijuana for personal use, and the Department of Justice has said it will not challenge those laws.
During the session of the state Legislature, the House Judiciary Committee heard a measure to legalize up to an ounce of pot before the committee tabled the measure. And some state senators said they believed Christie had been treated unfairly, signing a resolution that was never brought to a vote.
Christie's operation was shut down when he was arrested in July 2010.
The Christies and 12 others were charged in a federal grand jury indictment with marijuana trafficking.
Christie and his wife were also charged with conspiracy in connection with the case, charges that carry a prison term of five to 40 years.
Most of the others have pleaded guilty to marijuana-related charges and are awaiting sentencing.
Christie has maintained that marijuana was used as a sacrament in his ministry and that he should be shielded from prosecution under the federal Religious Freedom Restoration Act.
But U.S. District Judge Leslie Koba-ya-shi earlier this month ruled that the Christies could not use that defense.
Otake had contended earlier that Koba-ya-shi's ruling would be "extremely critical to our case."
Kobayashi's ruling cleared the way for the Oct. 8 trial.
Federal prosecutors had contended that the religious defense was a ploy to mask a large-scale marijuana-trafficking operation.
The federal indictment followed a two-year investigation by federal and Hawaii County law enforcement that resulted in the seizure of 2,296 marijuana plants, nine weapons, 33 pounds of processed marijuana and more than $21,000 in cash. The probe also included wiretaps that recorded thousands of calls on Christie's cellphone, phones at his home and at the THC ministry.
Christie's wife was allowed to be released on bond, but Christie was held without bail despite repeated requests for his release.
Federal judges here and the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals denied those requests, agreeing with prosecutors who maintained he would pose a danger to the community if he were to be set free.
Federal prosecutors had argued that authorities searched Christie's home and the ministry in March 2010, but he still continued his ministry until his arrest four months later. The Christies also lost a bid to suppress the recorded phone calls, which laid the foundation for the charges against them.
Based on those calls, federal prosecutors said the Christies indicated they had as many as 70 customers a day, sold about a half-pound of marijuana daily and made a profit of about $1,000 for each half-pound.
this was in the paper today, it sounded more like a gossip column, we haven't even written, or signed anything yet. shame on this journalism. once again they bring up about rifles and guns which Roger and I hadn't 0 any or knew about other people's guns, I'm still mad that they took my $900 for my Social Security check in the 1st government raid, which I was going to use on my holes in the roof cottage, the next time that we got raid they took my $700 that I saved up for new bed mattress because I was having so much back problems. that included in Rogers life savings of $21,000
I love my husband and he had the last say. I still wanted to go to court, but I see the larger picture of us plea-bargaining. I just despise having to get anything to the government including Rogers condo that his mother gave him. for taking care of her for over 20 years every winter Hawaii, bless her heart. that's probably been the hardest thing for me to swallow that Roger did not get to see his mother before she died last year. anyway I'm grateful that we get to fight for the larger picture of this. [ to End the war on drugs] for many of you that it's hard to understand written law, federal law especially, this is quite unusual that we get to appeal even though we're doing the plea bargain. as Roger has written
here today many blessings
Share Christie
@@@
Aloha. Get a grip; we are zero 'frightened'. We know how our judge rules; denying me reasonable bail, accepting the Schedule 1 for marijuana as rational, denying suppression of our unconstitutional wiretap evidence, denying us reasonable religious rights, denying us our RFRA motion. What's she gonna do with estopple?
Now that all the important issues have been removed from trial, what's the point of a trial? The importance of keeping all the above issues ALIVE and growing towards an appeal in San Francisco is what's primary. We can appeal from prison or from home. The choice was EASY.
All the best to everyone,
from Roger Christie
