#07869-033
 
Federal Sentence: 10 years
Offense: Manufacture of 100 or more marijuana plants; possession with intent to distribute less than 50 kilograms of marijuana; possession of a firearm during a drug-trafficking crime
Court: Western District of Kentucky
Priors: None
Date of Sentencing: September 16, 2002
Date of Birth: July 2, 1968
Projected Release Date: May 31, 2011
 
Nature of Offense: In 2000, David was living happily with his wife and daughter in Kentucky when his wife, who was already an amputee, fell down a flight of stairs at her job and sustained serious injuries to her neck, back, and leg.  At the time, David worked in a factory and he could no longer support his family when his wife couldn't return to work and her worker's compensation expired. 

To make additional money, David’s mistaken solution was to grow marijuana.  He began in the spring of 2000 after a coworker gave David cloned marijuana plants to grow.  When they matured, David gave them back to his coworker to sell.  Later, his partner changed David’s role from growing plants to cloning the mature ones he already had.  David also sold quarter to half-pound quantities on his own to two individuals four or five times.     
 
In 2001 David’s coworker and his girlfriend were arrested and implicated David.  On March 30, 2001 police searched David’s house and discovered 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 revolver, $1,200 in cash, and miniscule amounts of methamphetamine in the master bedroom.  David cooperated fully with the police, consenting to the search and leading them to his briefcases and plants.  However, David contends he was not a major drug trafficker: the marijuana in the briefcase was for his own personal use, and he stored the gun there to ensure his daughter would not find it. 
 
David pled guilty to the charges but refused to implicate anyone.  As a result, he could not attain a 5K.1 departure for substantial assistance like his coworker and his girlfriend.  The result was a 10-year mandatory minimum sentence.    
 
Guideline Sentence: The total amount of marijuana attributed to David was 69.858 kg and created a base offense level 22.  David received a 3-level decrease for his acceptance of responsibility.  For a total offense level 19 with no criminal history, David’s guideline range would have been 30 to 37 months.  But Manufacture of a Schedule I Controlled Substance (Marijuana Less Than 50 kg) dictates a 5-year mandatory minimum sentence.  David received another consecutive 5-year mandatory minimum sentence for Possession of a Firearm During or in Relation to a Drug Trafficking Crime, totaling 10 years. 
 
Sentences of Others Involved: David’s coworker received a 10-year sentence in exchange for his cooperation.  According to David, his coworker had a prior criminal history and faced a mandatory minimum for a felon in possession of a firearm.  The coworker’s girlfriend, who also kept marijuana plants in her house, will be released in 2007.
 
Personal Background: David was born and raised in Taylor County, Kentucky.  His mother abandoned him when he was only three.  A lack of money was always a problem for David’s family.  His father worked for the Campbellsville, Kentucky Street Department and his stepmother was as a registered nurse.  David has one younger brother and two half-brothers.  At age 19, David married his first wife and entered the Marine Corps where he served in the first Gulf War.  But before he could return home, his wife divorced him and retained custody of their daughter due to David’s military obligation.  David received an honorable release in 1991 and earned full custody of his daughter in 1995 when she was six.  The mother has since provided no assistance.
 
David married his second wife in 1995 and still loves and admires her determination to overcome life’s hardships.  In 1990, his wife was in a car accident and badly injured her right ankle.  Doctors fused it together with a bone from her hip and skin from her inner thigh so she could walk again on crutches and eventually a cane.  But her leg became infected and forced doctors to amputate it in 1994.  Despite the high level of toxins in her body and the trauma of surgery, David's wife persevered and learned to walk with a prosthetic leg.  She continued to work as a registered nurse throughout her ordeal, inspiring the elderly when she was employed at a nursing home, and later worked at a home health service where she suffered her debilitating accident.  Although she is unable to work, she has kept the family intact.  They still have their house, and she cares for David’s daughter, who is a senior in high school with hopes of college.  
 
David has received “good” to “outstanding” work evaluations in prison and has participated in as many programs as possible.  He’s earned his Commercial Driver’s License and completed classes in Drug Education and Qualities of Success, and is enrolled in Social Behavior and Philosophy. 
 
Complied from PSR, Prison Program Review Report, newspaper articles, and inmate information.

8/24/04 JC