JUDGE HANDS DOWN TWO MORE HOLY SMOKE SENTENCES

MARIJUANA: Alan Middlemiss and Kelsey Stratas sentenced to one year in
prison; legal team has already started appeal.

The appeal process has begun for the two of the remaining four members
of the Holy Smoke Culture Shop convicted of marijuana-related offences.

On January 2 in Nelson Courthouse Holy Smoke co-owner Alan Middlemiss
received the same sentence that co-owner Paul DeFelice did in November: one
year in jail.

Both men were found guilty of trafficking marijuana from the Holy
Smoke Culture Shop on Hendryx Street, Sales associate Kelsey Stratas
was also sentenced Friday on the same charge and received eight months
in jail.

Both Middlemiss and Stratas had prior records of marijuana-related
offences.

The lawyer for the four men convicted at the shop, Don Skogstad, said
Middlemiss and Stratas should be released next week from jail in
preparation for the appeal.

"The appeal will likely begin in April in Vancouver," he said on
Sunday.

Middlemiss and Stratas were initially scheduled to be sentenced before
Christmas. Skogstad had requested to have the sentencing held over to
January 2 to keep the two men from doing excess time in prison before
they're released to await an appeal.

Skogstad said Middlemiss and Stratas have already spent about a week
in jail in Nelson.

Middlemiss, DeFelice and Stratas, along with Akka Annis, were each
charged with two counts of trafficking cannabis 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.

When they went to court in April of last year the four men did not
deny the charges, but admitted to selling marijuana from the shop as a
way to provide a safe, quality product to adults, and to provide easy
access to those who use marijuana for medical purposes.

In an effort to show just cause for the marijuana sale, Skogstad
brought in witnesses such as recovering drug addicts who stated that
marijuana helped them get off hard drugs, people with chronic
illnesses who bought pot from the shop to help them deal with their
diseases, and (an) expert witness who testified about the effects of
marijuana on the human body.

They also argued that they initially started selling marijuana out of
the store in an effort to stop the drug dealing activities taking
place in the community park next to the business.

DeFelice and Annis have already served some of their sentences and
have been released pending an appeal.

Annis, a first time offender, received 40 days served on weekends in
the local lockup, while DeFelice was sentenced to a year in a federal
prison for his offence - a prior marijuana conviction being an
aggravating circumstance.