Family of medical marijuana patients in Washington turn down plea and set up notable federal trial

"This Entire Family Of Medical Marijuana Patients Could Go To Prison For Growing Pot," spotlights a developing federal criminal case that seems likely to provide a notable criminal justice setting for the on-going national debate over marijuana law, policy and reform. Here are the basics:

Four family members and a close family friend in a rural town in northeastern Washington are facing years in federal prison for growing marijuana for their personal medical use.

Larry Harvey, 70, his wife Rhonda Firestack-Harvey, 55, their son Rolland Gregg, 33, and Rolland's wife Michelle, 35, as well as close family friend Jason Zucker, 38, claim they were individually growing 74 marijuana plants for their own medical use at the Harveys' rural home near Kettle Falls, Washington, as is their right under state law.

"There is no hidden agenda here," Rhonda said Thursday in a statement to the media. "My husband and I are retired, but work hard to live a peaceful, sustainable life in the northeast Washington wilderness.  We both have serious health issues and were told by our doctors that medical marijuana could help. All five of us have qualifying conditions, actually, and the garden was below the limit of 15 plants per patient."

"It's outrageous that the federal government is wasting money prosecuting five patients who were in total compliance with state law," Rhonda added.  The Harvey home was first raided by state authorities in August 2012 after two flybys from Washington state's Civil Air Patrol -- the official civilian auxiliary of the United States Air Force -- reported an apparent marijuana grow near the Harvey residence.

On August 9, according to a motion filed by the Washington state U.S. attorney's office, state law enforcers raided the Harvey property and found 74 plants growing near the home. Under the presumption that the family was growing this cannabis as a collective, rather than individually, officers seized 29 cannabis plants so that the family would be compliant with state law, which limits collective crops to no more than 45 plants. The authorities did not press charges or seize any other assets.

However, days later, on August 16, federal authorities showed up with a new warrant and conducted a more comprehensive raid.  At the time, authorities were enacting a widespread crackdown on medical marijuana providers -- an effort that extended into states like California and Colorado -- at the directive of the Obama administration. During the Aug. 16 raid, Drug Enforcement Administration agents seized the Harveys' remaining marijuana plants, as well as about five pounds of raw cannabis and some marijuana-infused edibles from the freezer.  The feds also seized a 2007 Saturn Vue, $700 in cash, a computer, a motorcycle and an ATV, along with the family's legally owned firearms.

"This is not the kind of spectacular haul that the DEA is typically called in for," the family's attorneys wrote in a letter to Attorney General Eric Holder this February urging him to reconsider the charges. "Just the opposite, the evidence seized is consistent with the type of strict medical dosage that occurs with a doctor's supervision."

In 2013, the five patients were indicted by the Eastern Washington attorney general's office. According to the defendants' attorneys, all of them were growing cannabis in compliance with state law. Still, the federal government has charged each of them with six felonies apiece, including manufacturing, possession and distribution of marijuana, as well as the possession of a firearm in furtherance of drug trafficking, according to the indictment.

Because their trial is being held in federal court, it may not be enough of a defense for the family to argue that they were compliant with state law. In a motion filed Wednesday, Michael Ormsby, the U.S. attorney in eastern Washington state involved in the case, requested that "any evidence of medical purposes as well as the defendants' belief that they were lawfully engaged in marijuana cultivation" be inadmissible in court. Ormsby argued that the family's purpose for growing the marijuana is not the issue. Rather, he said, the "knowing or intentional manufacturing of marijuana" is all that matters in this case....

During pre-trial hearings for the case this week, the family unanimously rejected the plea deals offered by the prosecuting attorneys that would have reduced their maximum sentences to just three years behind bars. Without the plea deal, their maximum sentences range from up to 40 years to life in federal prison.

Washington state law allows for licensed medical marijuana patients to grow up to 15 plants and be in possession of up to 24 ounces of usable cannabis. The law also says that no more than 10 qualified patients can participate in a single collective garden. The patients can grow up to 15 plants each, but the garden cannot exceed 45 plants.

Federal authorities are charging the Harvey family with growing "100 or more" marijuana plants -- a charge that dramatically increases related fines and prison sentencing -- alleging that the family had grown a crop in 2011 similar in size to the one seized in the raids the following year. The charge is based on "numerous" photos, found on a seized computer from the residence, that allegedly depict the defendants in the grow at the same location in 2011, according to the motion filed by the U.S. attorney's office....

In their letter to Holder, the defendants' attorneys argued that there is no proof these five people are "perceived to be violent in any way," and say that the firearms had "absolutely nothing to do with the cultivation of cannabis." "This is a mom and pop on a family homestead near a National Wildlife Refuge in the Northeastern corner of Washington, where the nearest town is 10 miles in any direction," the attorneys wrote.

The family's attorneys argue that there is an "equal justice disparity" created by federal drug laws that directly contradict state laws in Washington, where medical marijuana has been legal for well over a decade. "In the very city where the Harvey family is set to stand trial, an ordinance was recently passed to establish groundbreaking licensing requirements for aspiring entrepreneurs in the existing medical marijuana field, as well as those planning to enter the emerging [recreational] marketplace," the attorneys wrote in their letter to Holder. "These conflicting realities cannot co-exist."...

Now that all five defendants have rejected the plea deals, their federal trial is expected to begin later this month. An official from the U.S. attorney's office in eastern Washington familiar with the matter said that the office cannot comment on ongoing cases.

For individuals and groups concerning about excessive federal government involvement in the activities of individuals out West, the Harvey family would seem to be a much more sympathetic cause célèbre than Cliven Bundy. But I have a feeling Sean Hannity and some of the folks quick to back Bundy in his stand-off with the feds are not likely to be championing family values and states' rights in this setting. And, sadly, that seems too bad and a telling indication that political principles may only go so far once pot is involved.