Source: Skagit Valley Herald
Contact: greglamm@newswest.com

http://www.newswest.com/svherald

Sentences differ in pot cases

Two growers get community service, another gets jail time

By IAN ITH

Staff Writer

MOUNT VERNON First a SedroWoolley woman lands a monthlong jail
sentence for growing marijuana in her barn.

A few minutes later, a Skagit County Superior Court judge gives a
Rockport couple community service for growing pot on
their property.

The difference, the couple's lawyers say, is simple. The couple needs
the pot to treat their crippling ailments. The
SedroWoolley woman doesn't.

The judge wasn't so sure, though he went along with the pleabargain
deal anyway.

"I'm not a big fan of a lot of the laws I have to follow," Judge Michael
Rickert said. "But that's what happens when you put on
the robe you have to follow the law."

John T. Prouty, 54, and Beverly Jane Prouty, 61, were arrested in
September 1995 after Beverly Prouty's daughter informed
police that the couple were growing pot on their property in an area
called Carefree Acres.

Beverly Prouty now goes by the last name Fox after a breakup with her
husband.

Police seized about nine pounds of pot when they raided an old bus the
couple lived in. The couple spent three days in jail.

But the Proutys were ready to fight the felony charge of possessing
marijuana with intent to deliver it.

John Prouty argued that he relied on marijuana to ease the severe muscle
contractions caused by postpolio syndrome. His
wife said marijuana was the only drug that would help her disabling
arthritis.

The prosecution maintained that they had packaged the drug as if they
were going to sell it.

The case carried on for nearly two years. Meanwhile, The Proutys'
lawyers were ready to offer doctors who would confirm
the Proutys' medical need for marijuana.

But finally, prosecutors offered them a deal: Plead guilty to
misdemeanor pot possession and get off with a month of
community service instead of going to jail. The Proutys accepted.

Enter Pamela Lynn Maxwell.

A few minutes before the Proutys were to enter their pleas yesterday,
Maxwell pleaded guilty to manufacturing marijuana, a
felony.

In April, Maxwell, 54, was caught growing 300 plants when the barn
behind her home at 3368 LymanHamilton Road caught
fire.

Maxwell, who now lives in Woodinville, told Rickert she grew the pot to
give to friends who belonged to a network that
distributed the drug to people who, like the Proutys, said they needed
it to treat their ailments.

But Rickert denied her request to do community service time, saying her
crime deserved a trip to jail.

So, when the Proutys came before Rickert with their plea deal, he wasn't
very eager to accept it.

"I'm not adverse to the general belief that perhaps marijuana is helpful
to people with certain medical conditions," the judge
said. "It's just not fair to Ms. Maxwell."

But the Proutys' lawyers argued the cases differed.

"This is not a situation where the Proutys were selling marijuana or
buying marijuana," John Prouty's lawyer, Keith Tyne, said.
"By growing it yourself you don't have to immerse yourself in the drug
culture."

Rickert wouldn't agree the cases were different enough to matter. But he
finally accepted the deal.

"I'm not confident in it, but I'm not going to tip your deal, either,
because I know how hard you worked on it," Rickert said.
"I'm going to live with it because the Proutys have done some jail
time."