PLEA DEAL CUTS POT GROWER'S JAIL TERM TO 10 MONTHS

A federal judge in Sacramento issued a shortened sentence Tuesday to a
convicted pot grower who agreed to peddle a message from the U.S.
government: Possession of marijuana is illegal, despite a California law
that legalized the plant for medicinal use.

The sentencing marks the first time the U.S. government has successfully
prosecuted a California resident who claimed to be growing the plant under
Proposition 215, the state law that legalizes marijuana possession for the
seriously ill and their caregivers.

Judge Lawrence K. Karlton gave the grower, Roni L. Aurelio, a 10-month jail
sentence, shaving as many as four months off the maximum penalty. In her
unusual plea agreement, prosecutors promised to recommend leniency if
Aurelio publicly warned would-be pot growers against the belief that
Proposition 215 shields them from stricter federal laws that make marijuana
possession illegal.

During the case, both the judge and prosecutor Nancy L. Simpson appeared to
tacitly recognize that the split between state and federal marijuana law
had created an element of confusion in some sectors. Before the sentencing,
Karlton issued a statement saying the legal split could be grounds for
granting a lower sentence.

Scott Tedmon, Aurelio's lawyer, said defense attorneys in future federal
pot cases may seize upon Karlton's statement in a bid to secure similar
considerations for their clients. "The issues (the judge) raised open the
door for other defense attorneys to argue their facts and see if they fit,"
Tedmon said.

Aurelio, her boyfriend, Richard Maughs, and three other defendants had been
arrested after drug agents found nearly 1,600 marijuana plants under their
care at two separate grow sites.

The group had posted signs claiming the pot was meant for medical use and
had contracted with a 24-year-old paraplegic marijuana advocate in Redding
to distribute the drug.

As part of the plea bargain, prosecutors charged Aurelio in connection with
a single grow site of roughly 340 plants. Federal guidelines mandate a
10-year minimum sentence for defendants caught with more than 1,000 plants.

The other defendants have not entered pleas in their cases. Simpson, who is
prosecuting at least two similar cases in Karlton's court, said she would
not offer similar deals to other defendants.

"I think we've sent the message," Simpson said. Aurelio completed her part
of the deal after being featured in a 16-paragraph story published Monday
in the Siskiyou Daily News, a 5,000 circulation newspaper in Yreka.

"My goal now is to warn the public," Aurelio told the paper during a
pre-sentencing interview in Sacramento County jail.

Local law enforcement agents who investigated Aurelio and her co-defendants
were extremely disappointed with the sentencing, saying the group had used
the new law as a cover for its criminal operation.

"I don't think they made a real strong argument against people growing pot
by letting her off easy," said Siskiyou County Sheriff's Detective John
Glines. "Sending her away for a long time would have sent a message."

Glines said a search of Aurelio's home found a videotape of Maughs standing
in a large outdoor marijuana garden before Proposition 215 passed. Glines
also cited the large size of the operation as evidence that the group was
planning to distribute pot to more than just the seriously ill in Siskiyou
County.

Copyright ) 1998 The Sacramento Bee