The Huffington Post has reported that though a man charged with several federal felonies in regards to manufacturing marijuana tried to gain support from President Barack Obama he has entered guilty pleas to 10 charges.
California resident M.D. was indicted in July of 2012 after a 2011 raid of his warehouse by the Drug Enforcement Administration led to the discovery of nearly 2,000 marijuana plants growing and 40 pounds of processed marijuana.
The Sacramento-based company, "Medzen", was the name of the medical dispensary owned by M.D.
Federal authorities – despite the fact that the state allows the sale of medical cannabis – have targeted other growing warehouses in Sacramento.
M.D., 34, has a financial stake in seven marijuana businesses, also included in the DEA investigation.
U.S. Attorney Benjamin B. Wagner, with the Department of Justice, said that M.D. was not in the business of helping ill Californians by providing medical cannabis, and has stated that it was "all about the money" for him.
President Obama said that his administration would not focus on prosecuting medical marijuana users in other states that had legalized their use, such as Washington and Colorado, as they had "bigger fish to fry."
Marijuana advocates are using the case against M.D. to show that President Obama misled medical marijuana producers.
M.M., M.D.'s wife, took it upon herself to write a letter to President Obama on her husband's behalf. She decided to address the comments the president had made and the current charges against M.D. The letter read, "Mr. President, my husband is not a criminal and shouldn't be treated like one. (M.D.) is not a drug dealer or trafficker. He's not driving around in a fancy car and living in some plush mansion – trust me. My husband is a regular guy, and we're a regular, middle-class family. Yet even though (M.D.) took great pains to follow state and local law, he is currently facing a severe prison sentence. This all seems so surreal."
M.M. further stated in her letter that she was "confused and absolutely terrified" at the idea of M.D. going to prison.
According to the Department of Justice, M.D. is seeking a plea agreement that would only call for five years in prison. M.D. has already voluntarily forfeited $100,000, however, the government will be seeking a sizable fine from him as well.
The minimum prison time M.D. currently faces is five years. He could have faced up to a 10-year mandatory sentence if he had not agreed to plead guilty according to federal prosecutors – as they threatened him with more charges.
M.D.'s attorney, Steven Ragland, had complained about the prosecution's tactics at the time saying, "It is shocking that the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District would choose to charge (M.D.) with a mandatory minimum at all that would remove all discretion by the sentencing judge. And it's frankly obscene that they're telling him now to agree to spend seven years of his life in federal prison or face new charges that carry a ten year mandatory…If (M.D) spent a decade in prison, during that decade you might have Phillip Morris selling medical marijuana. During that decade, you could have it evolve into something that is not even arguably a federal crime."
M.D. had two business partners, co-owner L.S. and warehouse grow operation manager R.D.. Both partners have already faced their own federal charges stemming from the case and have also entered guilty pleas.
M.D. is to be sentenced on September 27.
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