MARIJUANA CHARGES NET FEDERAL PRISON TERMS

MADISON -- A federal judge handed down prison sentences Thursday
against two Lodi-area residents found in June 2005 with around 200
live marijuana plants, and a third co-defendant is now also facing
charges after a federal grand jury handed down an indictment against
him Jan. 4.

But a defense attorney in the case says the federal system,
particularly in the Western District of Wisconsin, is unfair and
landed his client an unduly large prison sentence.

U.S. District Judge John C. Shabaz sentenced Terrance Larson, 54, and
Susan Lampert, 57, to 80 months and 26 months in federal prison
without parole, respectively, for guilty pleas the two entered Nov.
7. According to a statement by the U.S. Attorney's Office, Larson's
sentence was larger than Lampert's because Larson was allegedly
organizing the sales of up to 400 kilograms of marijuana out of his
Koltes Road residence in the town of Lodi. Lampert also had no
criminal history, according to the statement.

For pleading to manufacture of marijuana, Larson and Lampert faced a
five-year mandatory minimum sentence, according to John Vaudreuil,
chief of the Western District Criminal Division. But Lampert
qualified for a "safety valve," a provision of federal sentencing
guidelines that allows defendants lowered sentences if they do such
things as cooperate with police, have little criminal history and not
be the organizers of the crime.

The mere possibility of minimum sentences, however, is just a part of
why moving the cases to federal court put all three defendants at a
clear disadvantage. All three faced up to a 40-year sentence on one
federal count, but Larson's maximum possible sentence of 33 1/2 years
would have been the highest any of the three were facing in Wisconsin.

Larson's attorney David Mandell also said the district court judges
sentence people more strictly than elsewhere in the federal system,
and the federal system also allows no plea agreements, which could
have made for a more reasonable sentence in Wisconsin circuit court,
particularly considering Larson's persistent medical ailments such as
vision loss, diabetes and depression.

Mandell also decried federal sentencing guidelines, saying they led
to an unduly strict sentence for Larson. Vaudreuil responded that
Congress passed the guidelines, which also upheld Supreme Court scrutiny.

As to the nature of judges, Vaudreuil did not comment. "We prosecute
people, we think, obviously, fairly, and the judges look at all the
facts and the Court of Appeals affirms those judgments," he said.

Larson and Lampert have had charges dismissed in Columbia County,
which would otherwise be double jeopardy. Molitor still has charges
pending, but they are likely to be dismissed as well.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Elizabeth Altman, the cases' prosecuting
attorney, said the very decision to take a case to federal court is a
balancing act, in which prosecutors consider the criminal history of
the defendant, the amount and type of drugs at issue and how the
possible sentences at each level suit the punitive and rehabilitative
needs for the defendant.

Larson's Koltes Road home was seized by the federal government as a
drug house before federal charges came down.

The Columbia County Sheriff's Department should be getting funds from
the seizure -- perhaps as much as $250,000, according to Sheriff
Steven Rowe -- but nothing has been received yet.

In Molitor's case, he next faces arraignment Jan. 24. He also faces a
five-year mandatory minimum upon conviction, with a maximum of 40
years in prison.

All three are accused of being part of the marijuana growing
operation, which the Columbia County Sheriff's Department began
investigating in November 2004. The June 27-28, 2005, bust yielded
seizures in the hundreds of thousands of dollars, with raw and
processed marijuana at the scene alone being worth some $519,000 on
the street, according to police.