PRISON TIME FOR GROW-OP

Convicted in Saskatchewan's largest marijuana grow-op bust, three men
headed off to prison Monday chanting songs and professing their
innocence -- despite a judge rejecting their claims that the Creator
made them do it.

"It's an injustice. This should never have happened," Lawrence Hubert
Agecoutay said as he left Regina's Court of Queen's Bench to serve a
six-year sentence. The 52-year-old Regina man, who conceived of and
managed the operation, has already filed an appeal.

Chester Fernand Girard -- the Ontario gardener who provided know-how,
seeds and seed money to grow the 6,000 plants -- was equally defiant.
"It's industrial hemp. It's the only thing that can save the planet,"
the 59-year-old shouted. With credit for the equivalent of six months
of pre-trial custody, his sentence was reduced to 51/2 years.

Robert Stanley Agecoutay, Lawrence's 49-year-old brother and follower,
was sentenced to 31/2 years after also receiving six months' credit
for pre-trial custody.

In February, a jury convicted the trio of unlawfully producing
marijuana and possession of the drug for the purpose of trafficking.
Three other men were acquitted.

Crown prosecutor Darrell Blais had sought unprecedented prison
sentences of 15 years and a higher period of parole ineligibility.
Justice Frank Gerein rejected both in favour of terms in line with
those imposed for similar cases in the past.

"It's a fair sentence for Saskatchewan. Clearly, the judge didn't buy
the altruistic argument that we've been making," Lawrence's lawyer,
Rod Simaluk, said.

Gerein soundly rejected Lawrence's testimony that they were growing
the plants on sovereign First Nations land (immune from Canada's drug
laws), at the request of the Creator, to make medicine for their people.

"When I weigh everything, I have absolutely no doubt that the accused
were engaged in the production of a very large amount of marijuana for
the express purpose of obtaining a large sum of money," the judge said
in his 28-page decision. All three have previous convictions for drug
crimes.

According to an RCMP expert, the plants seized during an Aug. 21,
2005, raid near Robert's house on the Pasqua First Nation carried a
potential value between $2.5 million and $7.5 million. The nearly
mature plants were growing in six massive greenhouses and four outside
plots.

Gerein noted a key document seized set out expected yields and the
splitting of an anticipated $3-million profit.

"Upwards of $100,000 was invested in the operation. Several people who
worked as labourers were expecting to be paid. Various expenses could
be met only through the sale of a lucrative commodity. Hemp and
medicine would not provide that, but marijuana would," Gerein wrote.

He also noted Robert had hidden documents in a ceiling tile; the road
to the site was obstructed; the greenhouses were concealed in coulees:
and Lawrence had falsified documents to get two workers to the site.

Gerein also considered the use of children as workers, and the
increasing "use and abuse" of marijuana.

Girard's lawyer Drew Hitchcock hopes the case sparks some thought on
"reasonable drug policy.

"The judge and the lawyers have to work with the law that Parliament
gives, but I don't see how arresting guys who are sitting on the
ground praying to the Creator with a SWAT team (making arrests) is
really a sane drug policy."

Lawrence, the only one among the three to testify, always carries a
multi-coloured sacred bundle holding ceremonial pipes into the
prisoner's dock. He identifies himself as Chief Ka-Nee-Ka-Neet, a
hereditary, ancestral chief of the Anishinabe Nation of Turtle Island,
encompassing all of North America. The elected chief of the Pasqua
First Nation, Elaine Chicoose, has denounced the grow-op activities.

After the sentencing, Lawrence passed his eldest son the sacred
bundle.

"Stay strong, Dad," shouted the son, who identified himself as
Kenewpit Agecoutay, as his handcuffed father left for prison.

"Be strong for me. Get a hold of everybody. Let them know what
happened," his father replied.

Although the penalties were less than half those sought by the
prosecution, they still came as a blow to the Agecoutays' sister
Debra, a mainstay during the three-week trial.

"They're still going away for a long time. It's not right. They
weren't out to harm anybody," she insisted.

"Aren't there any real Indians out there anymore who care about their
land, their sovereignty? Or are they just a bunch of sell-outs?" she
added.

The Agecoutays' use of culture and religion in their defence has drawn
criticism from Pasqua's chief and council, some elders, and the
Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations.