May 18, 2009 10:22 pm US/Pacific
Lake County Pot Activist Gets 10-Year Prison Term
SAN FRANCISCO (CBS 5 / AP / BCN) ―
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The leaf of a growing marijuana plant.
AP
A man who grew as many as 32,000 marijuana plants along a Lake County highway was sentenced by a federal judge in San Francisco on Monday to 10 years in federal prison.
U.S. District Judge Marilyn Patel imposed the minimum sentence on Charles "Eddy" Lepp that was required under federal drug sentencing guidelines, but she noted that the marijuana activist appeared to "want to be a martyr for the cause."
Patel said Lepp didn't qualify for a so-called "safety valve" exception with a lesser sentence because he testified at his trial last fall that he was a proud leader of others who grew marijuana on his land.
Federal law doesn't allow the safety-valve exception for people who are leaders of drug crimes.
A jury convicted the 56-year-old pot farmer in September on charges of cultivation and possessing marijuana with the intent to distribute.
While Lepp was convicted of growing more than 1,000 plants, an amount that triggered the mandatory 10-year sentence, the actual number in his fields was more than that.
Prosecutors said in a sentencing brief that both sides stipulated at the trial that number of plants was 15,724 and that Lepp testified that the number was 32,000.
Lepp said he is a Rastafarian who grew marijuana for spiritual and medical reasons. He is appealing his conviction, arguing that he wasn't allowed to present a religious defense at trial.
While Lepp had also contended the marijuana was grown for medical use under California's compassionate use law, federal drug laws don't allow state medical marijuana laws to be used as a defense in federal prosecutions.
While Judge Patel said Monday that she thought the length of Lepp's sentence was excessive, she noted it would be up to Congress to change the law.
The judge said, "I think Mr. Lepp is very proud of what he's been doing. The problem is that now unfortunately, Mr. Lepp, it's caught up with you."
"Maybe you want to be martyr for the cause," Patel added. "That will be your lot."
Lepp, a disabled Vietnam veteran, admittedly grew the marijuana on 23 acres he owns adjacent to state Highway 20 in Upper Lake.
After federal drug agents raided Lepp's easily visible farm in 2004, High Times magazine named him its "freedom fighter" of the year.
Lepp said at the sentencing, "I've done all I can to comply with the laws and rules of the state in which I reside." He said he informed local authorities in 2004 that his land "would be used to enable patients who didn't own land to grow marijuana for medical purposes."
Prosecutor David Hall told the judge, "I've never seen a man work harder to get time in prison than Mr. Lepp has."
Lepp's attorney, Michael Hinckley, said outside of court that the sentence was "tragic" and said he would appeal it along with the conviction.
The small courtroom at the Federal Building was crowded with more than 50 supporters of Lepp, some of whom began to cry silently when the sentence was pronounced.
Judge Patel gave Lepp until July 6 to surrender voluntarily to begin serving his sentence.
(© CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. The Associated Press and Bay City News contributed to this report.)
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