FORMER SHERIFF'S DEPUTY SENTENCED TO FOUR YEARS FOR SELLING POT

SANTA ANA, Calif. (AP) -- A retired sheriff's deputy who volunteered at a
medical marijuana club that took donations was sentenced to four years in
state prison for selling the drug.

The maximum sentence was handed down Friday to David Lee Herrick, a retired
San Bernardino County sheriff's deputy who had been convicted in May.

Herrick, 48, was a volunteer with the Orange County Cannabis Co-Op, which
had a policy of distributing marijuana to the sick.

Co-op founder Marvin Chavez, awaiting trial on a similar felony charge,
criticized Herrick's sentence.

"What they did today was wrong," he said.

The Orange County Superior Court case had been seen as a test of
Proposition 215, the 1996 state initiative that allowed patients with
cancer, AIDS, glaucoma and other illnesses to possess and grow marijuana
for medical use with a doctor's recommendation.

However, the judge refused to allow Herrick to use the initiative as a
defense because the club took donations for the marijuana. The judge said
that amounted to selling the drug, which the initiative doesn't protect.

Herrick, 48, said he started using marijuana to deal with a back injury he
suffered on duty.

Prosecutor Carl Armbrust said Herrick had a previous conviction for selling
marijuana before the initiative was approved.

Judge William R. Froeberg said imposing a lesser sentence would violate his
oath of office.

"He used to be a law enforcement officer," Froeberg said. "He should have
known what he was doing was against the law, especially because he was on
probation for the same thing.

"He's nothing more than a marijuana salesman."

Checked-by: Mike Gogulski