David Brian Veatch
Sentence: 10 years
Offense: Manufacturing marijuana plants; possession WITD; possession of a firearm during a drug trafficking crime
Court: Western District of Kentucky
Priors: None
Year sentenced: 2002
Age at sentencing: 34
Projected release date: May 31, 2011
Born in Kentucky, David’s mother left him when he was only three and lack of money become a residual problem for David’s family. Although his father and stepmother had steady jobs, David learned he had to work hard to make ends meet. At 19, David entered the Marine Corps and served in the first Gulf War.
In 2000, David was living happily with his wife Laura and daughter Brittany in Kentucky when Laura, who already had a prosthetic leg, fell down a flight of stairs at work and sustained serious injuries. David worked fulltime at a Fruit of the Loom factory but his income alone was not enough to support his family when Laura was unable to return to work. When a coworker offered David money in exchange for growing marijuana, David agreed. In the spring of 2000, the coworker gave David cloned marijuana plants to grow. When the plants matured, David returned them to his coworker. Later, his coworker asked David to clone the mature marijuana plants. David also sold quarter to half-pound quantities on his own to two individuals on four or five occasions.
In 2001, David’s coworker and his girlfriend were arrested and implicated David. Police searched David’s house and recovered an indoor grow operation with 696 marijuana plants (200 were discarded due to their immaturity), two briefcases containing 258 grams of marijuana and a loaded 0.357 revolver, $1,200 in cash, and miniscule amounts of methamphetamine in the master bedroom. David contends he was not a major drug trafficker: the marijuana in the briefcase was for his own personal use, and he hid the gun in the briefcase to ensure his daughter would not accidently find it. David cooperated fully with the police, consenting to the search and leading them to his briefcases and plants.
David pled guilty to all charges but refused to implicate anyone. As a result, he could not attain a lesser sentence for cooperation like his coworker and his girlfriend. David was held accountable for over 69 kilograms of marijuana. With no criminal history, the guidelines range called for a sentence of 30 to 37 months. However, because of the weight of marijuana that was attributed to David, he received a five-year mandatory sentence along with another consecutive five-year mandatory sentence for possession of a firearm during a drug trafficking crime. David’s coworker, who had an extensive criminal record, also received a 10-year sentence in exchange for his cooperation. The coworker’s girlfriend, who also kept marijuana plants and guns in her house, received a sentence of five years in prison. She was released in 2007.
While incarcerated, David has received outstanding work evaluations and has participated in as many programs as possible. He has earned his commercial driver’s license and completed classes in drug education, small business development, and keyboarding, and is enrolled in social behavior and philosophy. David maintains a close relationship with his now adult daughter whom he “loves and misses dearly.” Unfortunately, the stress of incarceration has caused David and Laura to divorce.