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Stiff sentence upheld for medical pot supplier
Bob Egelko, Chronicle Staff Writer
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
(05-04) 16:41 PDT SAN FRANCISCO -- Advocates for the first California medical marijuana supplier convicted of federal drug charges said today they would seek a rehearing after a federal appeals court upheld his 10-year prison sentence.
Brian Epis of Chico was convicted by a Sacramento federal jury in 2002 of conspiring to grow more than 1,000 marijuana plants. Butte County officers seized 458 plants from the basement of his home in June 1997 and found records that more plants had been grown there.
Epis, who had a doctor's recommendation to use marijuana for chronic back and neck pain, said he was growing the plants for himself and four other patients who shared the expenses. He said he planned to sell a few of the plants, at cost, to the cooperative he ran out of his home. But prosecutors said Epis was planning to make millions of dollars.
It was the first such prosecution since November 1996, when California voters approved Proposition 215, legalizing the medical use of marijuana under state law. The U.S. Supreme Court later ruled that the federal government could enforce U.S. drug laws against marijuana suppliers and users in the state.
Epis is serving a 10-year sentence required by federal law for conspiring to grow more than 1,000 marijuana plants within 1,000 feet of a school. He argued in his appeal that he had reasonably believed he was acting legally and would not be prosecuted by the federal government for transactions that did not involve interstate commerce.
But in a 3-0 ruling last month, the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco said Epis had no reason to believe that Prop. 215 would shield him from federal law, particularly because "a large-scale marijuana growing operation ... can have an impact on interstate commerce."
Epis also said the government had violated his rights by destroying evidence after the trial. But the court said Epis' lawyer had access to the evidence during the trial, and it was destroyed only because government employees mistakenly thought the case was over.
The court also said Epis was ineligible for a lighter sentence because the evidence showed he had been a manager of the drug conspiracy.
The California chapter of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws called the ruling "an egregious miscarriage of justice." Defense lawyer Brenda Grantland said she would ask the full appeals court for a new hearing.
"If you reasonably believe that something you're doing is legal ... and after the fact it becomes illegal, you shouldn't be punished for it," she said.
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Bob Egelko, Chronicle Staff Writer
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
(05-04) 16:41 PDT SAN FRANCISCO -- Advocates for the first California medical marijuana supplier convicted of federal drug charges said today they would seek a rehearing after a federal appeals court upheld his 10-year prison sentence.
Brian Epis of Chico was convicted by a Sacramento federal jury in 2002 of conspiring to grow more than 1,000 marijuana plants. Butte County officers seized 458 plants from the basement of his home in June 1997 and found records that more plants had been grown there.
Epis, who had a doctor's recommendation to use marijuana for chronic back and neck pain, said he was growing the plants for himself and four other patients who shared the expenses. He said he planned to sell a few of the plants, at cost, to the cooperative he ran out of his home. But prosecutors said Epis was planning to make millions of dollars.
It was the first such prosecution since November 1996, when California voters approved Proposition 215, legalizing the medical use of marijuana under state law. The U.S. Supreme Court later ruled that the federal government could enforce U.S. drug laws against marijuana suppliers and users in the state.
Epis is serving a 10-year sentence required by federal law for conspiring to grow more than 1,000 marijuana plants within 1,000 feet of a school. He argued in his appeal that he had reasonably believed he was acting legally and would not be prosecuted by the federal government for transactions that did not involve interstate commerce.
But in a 3-0 ruling last month, the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco said Epis had no reason to believe that Prop. 215 would shield him from federal law, particularly because "a large-scale marijuana growing operation ... can have an impact on interstate commerce."
Epis also said the government had violated his rights by destroying evidence after the trial. But the court said Epis' lawyer had access to the evidence during the trial, and it was destroyed only because government employees mistakenly thought the case was over.
The court also said Epis was ineligible for a lighter sentence because the evidence showed he had been a manager of the drug conspiracy.
The California chapter of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws called the ruling "an egregious miscarriage of justice." Defense lawyer Brenda Grantland said she would ask the full appeals court for a new hearing.
"If you reasonably believe that something you're doing is legal ... and after the fact it becomes illegal, you shouldn't be punished for it," she said.
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