http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v99.n695.a11.html

POT GROWER FACES U.S. SENTENCES: HER MEDICAL-USE CLAIM MAY WIN A LIGHTER TERM

The gulf dividing state and federal marijuana laws will take center stage
today in the sentencing of the first pot grower prosecuted by the federal
government despite her claims that California's medical-marijuana law made
her operation legal.

U.S. District Chief Judge Lawrence K. Karlton, who will hand down the
sentence, has said that the rift between the state law and stricter federal
drug statutes -- the latter make any marijuana possession illegal -- could
be grounds for a more lenient sentence for the grower.

The woman, Roni L. Aurelio, pleaded guilty in December. It was the first
marijuana conviction won by the federal government against a California
resident who claimed to be growing marijuana for medical use."

The possibility that (Aurelio) relied on state law in determining the
legality of her conduct" will be taken into account during sentencing,
Karlton said in a Feb. 13 court order.

Legal analysts said the fact the judge is considering the impact of the
state statute could set a precedent for future federal cases where
defendants claim to possess the plant for medical use.

But even before Karlton's pre-sentencing statement, the U.S. Attorney's
Office had struck an unusual plea bargain with Aurelio that seems to
indicate prosecutors' recognition that unresolved differences between the
state and federal laws have created confusion.

Aurelio pleaded guilty in December to growing about 340 marijuana plants in
a greenhouse attached to her home. Her boyfriend, Richard Maughs, and three
others still face charges stemming from the discovery of more than 1,200
pot plants nearby.

Aurelio claims in court documents and interviews not to know anything about
her boyfriend's garden location.

Arresting agents found posted signs at all the grow sites declaring that
the marijuana was meant for medical use. Court documents show that the
defendants freely showed the agents where the pot was being cultivated.

"Can't we just grow marijuana for medicine?" one defendant asked, according
to a Drug Enforcement Administration agent's affidavit.

Two of the defendants have tried to have that statement suppressed in court.

About 56 percent of California voters approved Proposition 215 in November
1996. It allows the cultivation and possession of marijuana by seriously
ill people and their caregivers.

Under federal law, however, all forms of marijuana possession remain a
crime. In practice, the federal government only prosecutes cases where
large numbers of plants are involved, so there have been relatively few
federal cases since the medical-marijuana initiative passed. Aurelio's
conviction is the first during that time.

Scott L. Tedmon, the court-appointed attorney defending Aurelio, said his
client was "extremely upset" after her indictment on federal charges
because she believed that growing marijuana for medical use was legal.

"I started getting angry phone calls from people wondering why Roni was
still in jail," Tedmon said. "There seemed to be a lot of people out there
confused by Proposition 215."

That confusion appeared to have been tacitly acknowledged by the U.S.
Attorney's Office when prosecutors struck their unusual plea bargain with
Aurelio.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Nancy L. Simpson, who is prosecuting Aurelio and
the four other defendants, offered the woman a reduced sentence in December
if she succeeded in spreading the word that marijuana possession violates
federal law.

The deal required Aurelio to attract media coverage to her story that she
was misled by literature produced by marijuana advocates after the passage
of Proposition 215, and that she was shocked by her federal indictment. One
newspaper article was reportedly published Monday."

The defendant agrees to make a public statement, urging others not to be
misled into believing that they may grow 'medicinal marijuana' without
being in violation of federal law," the plea agreement states. "If the
defendant's public statement . . . receives media coverage, the government
agrees to move for a (reduced sentence)."

Simpson said the deal came at the suggestion of defense attorneys and
Aurelio, who claimed she was confused.

"If there were people out there with similar beliefs, then I wanted to get
the message out that growing marijuana is serious stuff and that it is
still illegal," Simpson said.

Under the plea bargain, Aurelio could get two to three months off her
prison term, or be released to a halfway house sooner. However, federal
judges are not bound by such deals.

Ephraim Margolin, a professor at UC Berkeley's Boalt School of Law, called
the deal "unusual" and said it could reflect prosecutors' uneasiness at
bringing a case while pronounced differences in the law remain unresolved.

"No one likes to prosecute a case where the majority of the community has
said the activity in question should be legal," Margolin said. "But I like
the notion that lawyers can find ways to increase their effect. If the
public statement is the truth, then I think it serves the good purpose of
the government."

Law enforcement officials in Siskiyou County who investigated the case
strongly criticized the plea bargain. They believe Aurelio and the other
defendants were using Proposition 215 as a ploy to cover a large scale,
black market marijuana growing operation.

Detective John Glines, a member of the Siskiyou County marijuana
enforcement team based in Yreka, cites the large number of plants the group
is accused of growing, the premium price they allegedly charged and the
previous criminal records of some of the group's members.

According to court documents and interviews, Aurelio, her boyfriend and
three others signed contracts to grow marijuana for David Navarro, a
24-year-old paraplegic who uses marijuana for medical reasons.

In an interview in the Sacramento County jail, Aurelio blamed Navarro and
other marijuana advocates for "tricking" her into believing pot cultivation
was legal."I know I was wrong; I'm guilty," Aurelio said. "Don't think you
can grow pot, because the feds will come down on you hard."

Law enforcement officials suggest, however, that the growers may have
sought out Navarro as a means to cover their operation behind a "poster
child" for the medical marijuana movement.

Copyright ) 1998 The Sacramento Bee