65-year-old man sentenced to 20 years for growing pot

[KamaAina]

in effect, likely a life sentence, for a first offense. This dispatch from the War on Some Drugs comes to you from Volcano, Hawai'i, on the Big Island.

http://starbulletin.com/2008/04/23/news/story02.html

HILO » More than 90 people wrote letters to Circuit Judge Glen Hara telling him that Big Island marijuana grower David Finley, 65, is a good man. Hara agreed with them....

Yesterday Hara sentenced him to two terms of 20 years, to be served simultaneously.

The normal sentence for most first-time offenders like Finley would be probation.

But Hara added, "Any sentence other than prison would undermine the respect for law."

Actually, 20 years for pakalolo also tends to undermine the respect for law, for some of us. :grr:

[bluetrain]

1. Insane. Unethical.

[alarimer]

2. Is that they guy that posted here from time to time?

This is a ridiculous sentence. Career criminals don't do that much time.

[KamaAina]

4. Opihi? Perish the thought.

He hasn't got anywhere near that much land. :P

[Pastiche423]

15. No

Our DUer has been free since 12.12.07.

His date of release just hit me. :wow:

[ccharles000]

3. This is disgusting.

Why won't the government leave people alone? If cigarettes are legal than pot should be to. :grr:

[Fumesucker]

10. A better comparison is alcohol

You can die from alcohol intoxication.. And withdrawal as well..

Not so for marijuana

[riverdeep]

53. If alcohol were 'discovered' today, it would be illegal.

'Tonight on 20/20-a shocking new trend. Teens drinking the remains of rotted grain and other vegetable matter. It has the ability to stop your heart and brain if you drink too much, and regularly results in increased aggression and severe motor impairment. It's addictive and can ruin lives. See what law enforcement and government agencies are doing to combat this terrifying new drug.'

[MADem]

5. Was that old guy screwing the judge's wife, or what? What an ASSHOLE.

He's using the "Think of the Children" argument, apparently:

The judge explained that he considered not only the law but also public welfare.

"Marijuana is fully entrenched in our island way of life," he said. Many people start using it before they are teenagers, he said.

The effect of marijuana on the development of children's brains is not fully understood, he said.

Its effect on adults is uncertain, he suggested. "I don't think you'd be very comfortable about me passing sentence on you after smoking a joint," he told Finley.

Finley probably wouldn't be happy about a doctor using marijuana before performing surgery on Finley's wife, Hara said.

Deputy Prosecutor Rick Damerville said some people think they are safe from prosecution since Hawaii County stopped taking federal marijuana eradication grants about two years ago. The number of prosecutions has actually increased...Deputy Prosecutor Jason Skier, who handled Finley's prosecution, said, "This was a large-scale commercial enterprise." Police said they found 127 one-ounce bags of marijuana with price tags on them of $280 to $300 each.

Police also found 199 marijuana plants in greenhouses, two pounds of hashish, almost 19 grams of illegal mushrooms, and 59 illegal methadone pills.

Originally charged with 14 counts, Finley pled guilty to two counts of commercial growing of marijuana.

Finley's attorney, Brian De Lima, said the bags held only low-value leaves and stems. Finley had claimed he intended to use the bagged material to make wine.

[Fumesucker]

12. The judge is an idiot..

""Finley probably wouldn't be happy about a doctor using marijuana before performing surgery on Finley's wife, Hara said.""

The statement above by the judge has logical holes one could steer an asteroid through.

The judge probably wouldn't be happy about a doctor using alcohol before performing surgery on his wife..

Doctors have the highest rate of addiction to narcotics of any profession, by a good margin.

Most judges are lawyers and lawyers are trained in logic, this fucker wouldn't know logic if it took a chunk out of his scrotum.

[uncle ray]

55. i can't speak for the defendant here

but i sure wouldn't mind if the judge burned one before passing judgment on me.

[newmajority]

59. He might be a bit more reasonable in his sentencing if he had

Unless he was a complete hypocrite.... "20 years, motherfucker! Court is adjourned, I'll be in my chambers with my bong"

[uppityperson]

6. Not just pot, more from the article, methadon, hash, shrooms, 75# pot in baggies with price tags

Deputy Prosecutor Jason Skier, who handled Finley's prosecution, said, "This was a large-scale commercial enterprise." Police said they found 127 one-ounce bags of marijuana with price tags on them of $280 to $300 each.

Police also found 199 marijuana plants in greenhouses, two pounds of hashish, almost 19 grams of illegal mushrooms, and 59 illegal methadone pills.

[KamaAina]

7. 19 grams of 'shrooms is really not a huge amount

or so I've been told. :-) Ditto for the methadone (two months' supply for one person).

[uppityperson]

8. True. So I hear too. How about the pot in bags with price tags? I agree, sentence is way too much.

Put him on home detention, and monitor him, if they're really worried about him.

[islandmkl]

9. hey...i'll monitor the dude and his activities...DAILY...

[rucky]

18. Wowie!

[penguin7]

20. I thought pot cost $20 an ounce?

[madeline_con]

30. In the 60's maybe. n/t

[Viva_La_Revolution]

36. a quarter is $50 here in OR

but it's really nice.

[jmowreader]

11. For this guy, in this legal climate, 20 years is about right...

although the Parole Board should run it down to three-to-five. Pot should be completely legal, but right now it's not.

When I read the OP I thought, oh my they're going to put the screws to a guy with two plants in his flowerbed. Fucking guy had HUNDREDS of plants and 75 POUNDS of smokable weed--the kind of drug operation the cops would be able to sell "downwind fan" tickets to for the day they burn it.

I would imagine, though, that he's going to be somewhat of a celebrity in the joint. Very few senior citizens get locked up for running this kind of operation.

[logosoco]

13. This makes me sad!!!!!

After watching "run from the cure" on youtube and being somewhat familiar with the healing properties of this herb, I know that all this man was doing was trying to help people....just like eli lily,etc. think they are. That he has to go to prison for basically the rest of his life is a good example of how backwards our society has becaom.
And remember, kids...anything oil can do hemp can do better!!

[SammyWinstonJack]

49. While we screw up the climate by burning fossil fuels, we could be nurturing the planet by

growing hemp. Other countries do but not the good old USA! :patriot: :silly:

[ShaneGR]

14. Ummm, this guy was not just growing, he was running a business

Police said they found 127 one-ounce bags of marijuana with price tags on them of $280 to $300 each.

Police also found 199 marijuana plants in greenhouses, two pounds of hashish, almost 19 grams of illegal mushrooms, and 59 illegal methadone pills.

Originally charged with 14 counts, Finley pled guilty to two counts of commercial growing of marijuana.








With all that said, I'm surprised at the 20 year sentence, I would of expected something far less severe, 2-3 year tops and out in a year with good behavior.

[uppityperson]

17. price tags are sort of a tip off. Sentence is still high, but still, price tags?

[indepat]

16. Only in Amurikkka!

:grr: :mad:

[spanone]

19. reefer madness....all these years...

[Mind_your_head]

21. I don't have any dog in this race AT ALL....but it sure makes me think of this....

Uptown got it's hustlers
The bowery got it's bums
42nd street got big jim walker
He's a pool-shootin' son of a gun
Yeah, he big and dumb as a man can come
But he stronger than a country hoss
And when the bad folks all get together at night
You know they all call big jim "boss", just because
And they say

You don't tug on superman's cape
You don't spit into the wind
You don't pull the mask off that old lone ranger
And you don't mess around with jim

Well outta south alabama came a country boy
He say i'm lookin' for a man named jim
I am a pool-shootin' boy
My name willie mccoy
But down home they call me slim
Yeah i'm lookin' for the king of 42nd street
He drivin' a drop top cadillac
Last week he took all my money
And it may sound funny
But i come to get my money back
And everybody say jack don't you know

And you don't tug on superman's cape
You don't spit into the wind
You don't pull the mask off that old lone ranger
And you don't mess around with jim

Well a hush fell over the pool room
Jimmy come boppin' in off the street
And when the cuttin' were done
The only part that wasn't bloody
Was the soles of the big man's feet
Yeah he were cut in in bout a hundred places
And he were shot in a couple more
And you better believe
They sung a different kind of story
When big jim hit the floor now they say

You don't tug on superman's cape
You don't spit into the wind
You don't pull the mask off that old lone ranger
And you don't mess around with slim

Yeah, big jim got his hat
Find out where it's at
And it's not hustlin' people strange to you
Even if you do got a two-piece custom-made pool cue

Yeah you don't tug on superman's cape
You don't spit into the wind
You don't pull the mask off the old lone ranger

edit to add link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a_sAunLs4sw

[here_is_to_hope]

22. *snicker* n/t

[Mind_your_head]

25. Don't understand the snicker.....

Why?

[Canuckistanian]

23. So he was punished merely to make a point?

To Hell with precedent. To Hell with "cruel and unusual punishment". To Hell with "community standards" and overwhelming community support.

Your level of justice now depends on which judge is assigned to your case, it seems.

[KamaAina]

24. Basically, yes.

But then, I wouldn't expect you to understand this, given that you're from a civilised country. :eyes:

[Leftist Agitator]

31. "Your level of justice now depends on which judge is assigned to your case"

It always has, my Canadian friend. Just one of the many, many fucked up aspects of the American system of jurisprudence.

[Canuckistanian]

32. A major problem, as I see it, is that your judges are ELECTED

And we all know how elections work, now don't we?

[Leftist Agitator]

33. "And we all know how elections work, now don't we?"

Indeed. Elections in the U.S. are a fucking joke.

:mad:

Not to mention that in this country, you'll never see a judge get elected who hands down LESS harsh sentences than his or her predecessor.

Oy, America.

[FiveGoodMen]

56. Sounds like an activist judge to me!

[Uncle Joe]

26. The Orwellian "War on Drugs" and it's asinine draconian punishments is

what's undermining respect for the law.

You're not fooling anyone, this isn't a war against drugs, this is a war against the American People's freedom!

[slay]

35. Well said my friend, well said.

Sad but true. :(

[Echo In Light]

42. Phony "wars" is about all this fucked country has. Shame on the judge - Karma will repay

[SammyWinstonJack]

50. AND a way to keep the PRISON INDUSTRIAL COMPLEX well supplied!

[SeattleGirl]

27. Oh yes, the bad old mad gets thrown into fucking PRISON for

growing pot, but the EVIL that is Bush, Cheney, et al gets to keep on keepin' on.

I think I'm gonna puke!

[madeline_con]

28. But murderers are releaed to kill again.

I need to go lie down.

[aint_no_life_nowhere]

29. If he'd lied under oath to a Federal Prosecutor

committed treason, and been one of the Chimp's minions, he'd probably be out scott free and working for a lobbyist right now.

[Mind_your_head]

58. Scooter Libby is a good example of such. eom

[New Dawn]

34. 25% of the world's prisoners are Americans

Even though we only make up 5% of the world's population.

This is an example of why that is the case.

[Elspeth]

37. This guy grows pot, gets 20 year sentence. Another old guy kills 9 pedestrians with his car

Gets no prison time at all.

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/state/20030717-9999_1n17crash.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Russell_Weller

Nonsense.


Edited to add wikipedia entry

[Divine Discontent]

38. despite my poor opinion of the drug for recreational reasons

and my support of it for medicinal-only reasons, I am very bitter that this judge handed down such a ridiculous sentence for growing weed.....

so mean spirited.

[Fumesucker]

41. Do you consume alcoholic beverages ever?

If so then you have little room to have a poor opinion of recreational pot.

[Divine Discontent]

45. no I don't have little room because

it's my personal and factual history with it, and what I've seen from dozens of people over many years - I'd rather have someone driving a car who's had one shot to drink than one marijuana cigarette. the last day I spent around people that smoked every day (and didn't drink at all) they toked and drove and killed a man, and critically injured one of themselves. of course, they say their accident had nothing to do with being high, which is typical.

you may have had a different history or in-person experience witnessing others, but I haven't, and therefore I have more than enough room to state what I did.

take care

[riverdeep]

52. Amounts given not really fair comparision.

A shot of liquor given to a 180lb. man who's a regular social drinker won't do anything, not even a buzz. A joint WILL affect a pot smoker. A more apt comparison would be a joint and seven or eight shots.

I'd rather have someone high driving in the opposite lane than someone drunk by a wide margin. But, of course, my first choice would be neither.

[Fumesucker]

57. Do you drink alcoholic beverages?

Yes or no?

The fact that you did not answer makes it clear that you do.

[NM Independent]

39. That judge can have fun dealing with his karma on this one.

However, some of you are acting like unjust jail time for pot is something to be surprised about. Check your state's incarceration rates. Pretty easy to find via google, and if this upsets you, then you're head will explode when you see how many people are in jail for pot. Those statistics usually don't count people who got probation and then went to jail after testing positive.

Not only are people serving time for pot, but paraphernalia (sp?) too. In fact, here in NM - for the first offense - the max. sentence is 15 days for less than 1 oz., and 1 year for paraphernalia. The max sentence in the state for pot is 18 years - for sales/cultivation of over 100 lbs within a drug free school zone.

Yet, if you total all the destruction from pot over the last ten years it would probably equal a year or two for alcohol (and I think I'm being generous).

So, anybody died from pot yet????

Didn't think so...

[Fumesucker]

40. it would probably equal a year or two for alcohol

More like a week..

[NM Independent]

43. Like I said...

I was being generous, but you're right, maybe I was being too generous. :shrug:

[hootinholler]

44. Well, there was that sherriff that made brownies from confiscated pot

and called 911 saying "I'm gonna die" :rofl:

Closest I know of.

-Hoot

[fed_up_mother]

46. Good grief! That sentence should be the CRIME!

[LeftishBrit]

47. Wow

Would a tobacco grower also get 20 years? If not, what is the difference?

This is just insane!

[spanone]

48. note to americans....war crimes ok - pot growing criminal

[Echo In Light]

51. Priorities n/t

[TNOE]

54. COME ON BARNEY FRANK!!

Hurry up and get that Bill before Congress to LEGALIZE MARIJUANNA!!!