CANNABIS CLUB FIGURE GETS 6 YEARS

Courts: Advocates of medicinal use urged leniency for Marvin Chavez, but his
past crimes are cited in ruling out probation.

Despite impassioned pleas for leniency from advocates of medicinal marijuana
use, a judge on Friday sentenced the founder of an Orange County cannabis
club to six years in prison for selling and transporting the drug.

The stiff sentence caps a closely watched case that focused attention on the
issue of who is entitled to legal protection under Proposition 215, the
state's medicinal marijuana initiative passed two years ago.

Marvin Chavez Sr., who was convicted last November of selling marijuana to
undercover officers and mailing the drug to a cancer patient, was
immediately taken into custody after the judge made his decision.

The 45-year-old Garden Grove man, who said he takes marijuana to ease the
pain of severe spinal arthritis, grimaced as he raised his arms to be
shackled by deputy marshals.

"Hang in there, Marvin!" one supporter cried out.

Orange County Superior Court Judge Thomas J. Borris cited a Probation
Department report that found Chavez was not a good candidate for probation
because of past brushes with the law.

Chavez was twice convicted of carrying a loaded firearm in 1976, according
to the report, and was convicted in 1990 of cocaine trafficking.

Chavez and his supporters argued that he had paid his debt to society for
those crimes, and that it was unfair to penalize him again.

"I've made mistakes in my life, and I paid for them," an emotional Chavez
told Borris, his trembling arm held by his attorney James Silva. "I am here
to obey the law as a citizen. I don't endorse illegal activities or drug
abuse."

Chavez said he was acting in the spirit of Proposition 215 when he
distributed the drug to those he believed had serious medical conditions.

"Marvin Chavez felt that he was operating under the law," said his lead
attorney, J. David Nick. For political reasons, he added, "the powers that
be were convinced that he was not."

Prosecutor Carl Armbrust, however, called Chavez a "sophisticated drug
dealer" operating under the guise of the law.

"Marijuana is still an illicit drug in the United States," Armbrust said.
"And California is still part of the United States."

Under Proposition 215, "it is legal to grow and possess [for medicinal
purposes], but the law does not imply you can sell marijuana," he said.

Medicinal marijuana advocates called the sentencing a major setback for
their efforts in Southern California.

"People in Orange County have no clearer idea of the law," said Steve
McWilliams, a proponent from San Diego.

McWilliams and others pointed out that since Proposition 215 passed,
different jurisdictions have been selective in the way they enforce the law.
Prosecutors in Alameda County and San Francisco, for example, have publicly
stated they will not pursue such cases.

"In Orange County, the message sent out today is 'hide,' " said attorney
Silva.

Chavez founded the cannabis club in 1996. A member of the group was arrested
in late 1997 on suspicion of possessing marijuana, and Chavez was charged as
a co-conspirator. Chavez was freed on his own recognizance on condition that
he stop distributing the drug. But undercover investigators posing as
seriously ill patients later bought marijuana from Chavez, and he was
arrested.

A jury convicted Chavez on two felony counts of selling marijuana and one
count of transporting it by mail. But it acquitted him on two other charges
and downgraded five felonies to misdemeanors.

On Thursday, Borris suspended the sentences on the lesser charges, but
handed down a total of six years on the other counts.

Chavez's supporters, numbering about 20 in the small courtroom, deplored the
tactics of the district attorney's office.

"With serious crimes rampant, the narcotic officers found it necessary to
set up a sting, entrapment," said Julie O'Donovan Ireland of Laguna Beach.

Ireland, whose husband and son have terminal cancer and lost six family
members to the disease, said "cannabis is a blessing in alleviating the
devastating effects of treatment. It is people like Marvin Chavez who are
there for us."

Chavez's case illustrates the ambiguities of Proposition 215, which allows
doctors to prescribe marijuana, and for patients and their "primary
caregivers" to possess the drug legally. Borris ruled Chavez could not use
Proposition 215 as a defense in the trial because he did not meet the
criteria of "primary caregiver."