Pubdate: Sat, 25 Jul 2015
Source: Spokesman-Review (Spokane, WA)
Copyright: 2015 The Spokesman-Review
Contact:  http://www.spokesman.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/417
Author: Kip Hill

MEMBER OF KETTLE FALLS FIVE SENTENCED TO 16 MONTHS IN JAIL FOR 
MARIJUANA OPERATION

A federal judge rejected the medical marijuana defense of a member of 
the so-called "Kettle Falls Five" growing family and sentenced Jason 
Lee Zucker on Friday to 16 months in prison.

"There is no such thing as medical marijuana," U.S. District Court 
Judge Thomas O. Rice said. "There is no such thing in federal law."

Zucker is the first to be sentenced in the case. He pleaded guilty 
the day before trial began in March and testified for the federal 
government against Rhonda Firestack-Harvey, Rolland Gregg and 
Michelle Gregg, saying he twice brought more than 70 plants from his 
home in Seattle to the Harvey property in rural Stevens County in 
2011 and 2012. Assistant U.S. Attorney Caitlin Baunsgard said Friday 
Zucker's testimony was "integral" to obtaining convictions against 
his co-defendants and urged the lighter sentence. He could have been 
sent to federal prison for five years.

"We found his testimony to be believable, credible and reliable," 
Baunsgard said.

Firestack-Harvey and the Greggs are scheduled to be sentenced in 
October. They face potential prison sentences of up to 20 years but 
will argue for supervised release from custody.

Prosecutors dropped charges against the fifth defendant in the case, 
Larry Harvey, after doctors diagnosed him with terminal cancer late last year.

Each member of the family said they had medical marijuana cards and 
believed they were operating within state law. Zucker broke his back 
in a snowboarding accident in 2000 and obtained a medical card.

All of the defendants, including Zucker, remain out of custody pending appeals.

Zucker told Rice he regretted helping the Harvey family, calling the 
two-and-a-half years since federal authorities raided the Stevens 
County property "a nightmare." Authorities seized plants, business 
records and two firearms at the home. The guns, which the Harveys say 
were used for hunting, attracted federal interest in the case, said 
Zucker's attorney, Frank Cikutovich.

"They thought, for all intents and purposes, that it was legal," 
Cikutovich said.

Cikutovich said Zucker's decision to take a plea deal and testify 
against the Harveys prompted threats and caused anxiety for his 
client, who already had a criminal marijuana conviction on his record 
when he was arrested in 2012. Because of that conviction, he was 
facing a mandatory prison sentence of five years.

"He had to make a decision about which family was more important to 
him," Cikutovich said.

In the gallery at the U.S. Courthouse in Spokane on Friday morning 
were Zucker's wife, 3-year-old daughter and several friends and 
family members who traveled from as far away as New Mexico. Also 
present were Firestack-Harvey and Michelle Gregg.

Heather Zucker, Jason's wife, asked for leniency for the sake of the 
couple's young daughter.

"I don't know how to explain to a 3-year-old that her father is in 
prison," Heather Zucker said, as her daughter played with coloring 
books in the audience.

Cikutovich also pointed out that since the case was originally 
charged, public opinion about marijuana - and several state laws - 
had changed, saying "the barn door's open." He also said Jason Zucker 
was misled by the lenient attitude toward marijuana growing in 
Western Washington compared to the strict stance of the U.S. 
Attorney's Office in Eastern Washington.

"Things have changed, but unfortunately he will not be the 
beneficiary of that," Cikutovich said.

Rice found none of the arguments compelling.

"I'm not quite impressed with you," Rice told Zucker. He said his 
hands were tied based on Congress' stance toward marijuana, 
continuing to schedule the drug on par with heroin, LSD and ecstasy 
as having no medicinal benefit, despite 23 states and Washington, 
D.C., adopting laws legalizing medical markets. Marijuana remains an 
illegal controlled substance under federal law.

"In a sense, you're playing Russian roulette with the DEA," Rice told 
Zucker. He advised the 40-year-old Seattle resident to get out of 
whatever marijuana businesses he was involved in.

But Rice also lifted a curfew and travel restrictions that had been 
placed on Zucker following his arrest. He also granted a request that 
Zucker be released pending the outcome of an appeal of the case, 
which must be filed within 14 days. Cikutovich said that appeal would 
be filed soon.

In addition to the prison sentence, Rice ordered a $5,000 fine and 
four years of supervised release. Zucker embraced his pregnant wife 
and each of his supporters on the way out of the courtroom Friday morning.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom