HOLY SMOKE SENTENCING

DeFelice Gets One Year In Jail

It was standing room only in the Nelson Provincial Courtroom on
Tuesday as the sentencing for two of the "Holy Smoke Four" was brought down.

Judge Don Sperry sentenced Holy Smoke co-owner, Paul DeFelice to one
year in a provincial correctional facility - the maximum penalty
allowed for the charges of trafficking marijuana.

Sales associate, Akka Annis was sentenced to 40 days in jail, to be
served on weekends in the Nelson Police Department lockup.

Alan Middlemiss, the other co-owner of the Baker Street shop, and
sales associate Kelsey Stratas have had their sentencing held over
until December 23.

All four men were charged with trafficking marijuana after the Nelson
Police Department raided the store on July 15, 2006 and said they
found a pound and a half of marijuana and between $8,000 and $9,000
in cash in the shop.

The four men pled guilty to the offence but tried an "experimental"
defense of necessity that saw witnesses ranging from recovering drug
addicts to marijuana expert Dr. Robert Melamede of the University of
Colorado take the stand in their defense.

Don Skogstad, lawyer for the four men, said the sentencing was held
over so he could have more time to gather character references and
background information about Middlemiss and Stratas.

"We asked for more time and a pre-sentence report because we weren't
able to assemble enough information about them in this short period
of time to do an adequate job of explaining their circumstances to
the court," Skogstad said.

Of the harsh sentence imposed on DeFelice - who had previous
convictions related to marijuana from the 1970s and 1980s - Skogstad
said he and all in attendance were surprised with Sperry's decision.

"We're going to appeal this conviction," he said. "We knew that
already. We're going to appeal the sentencing as well.

"There's really no case that's similar to that in our province. With
respect to B.C., this has not been the kind of sentence you would expect."

Skogstad noted that, pending the appeal, DeFelice is headed for "real
jail," with a stay at the Kamloops Regional Correctional Centre.

Sperry's decision to hand down this harsh sentence was based on a
motive of general deterrence, Skogstad said.

"He wasn't convinced that anything other than this would deter Mr.
DeFelice generally, or specifically, or the public generally," Skogstad said.

"He used the sentencing factor of deterrence and that was the
prominent factor for him."

Annis got a lesser sentence both because he had no criminal record
and because he showed remorse for his offense, Skogstad said.

Skogstad added that they're planning to file an appeal in the next
couple days and will be applying for the release of both men, pending
the appeal hearing.

"It's hard to give people back time," Skogstad pointed out.

"If it takes eight months for this appeal to be heard, he's d