Volcano pot farmer given 20-year term
Volcano pot farmer given 20-year term | HonoluluAdvertiser.com | The Honolulu Advertiser
HILO, Hawai’i — A Big Island man was sentenced to up to 20 years in prison yesterday for commercial promotion of marijuana, the only case in recent memory where a first conviction in a marijuana case prompted such a long sentence.Volcano resident David Finley Jr., 65, was arrested Jan. 29, 2007, in a raid on his Volcano ranch that turned up three indoor growing operations on the property, including a greenhouse attached to Finley’s home, equipment for manufacturing hashish and more than 75 pounds of dried marijuana and other drugs.
The dried marijuana found on the property included 127 sealed 1-ounce packets labeled with prices of $280 to $300 each, according to court records.
Finley pleaded guilty on Feb. 14 to two counts of commercial promotion of marijuana, and yesterday told Hilo Circuit Judge Glenn Hara that “I’m terribly sorry for what I’ve done.”
“I know I’ve done wrong, and I have to be responsible for that,” he said.
More than 90 letters of support were submitted to Hara asking for leniency, including letters from members of Finley’s church, his childhood friends, college friends and others.
Finley’s lawyer Brian De Lima asked that Finley be sentenced to probation, but Hara told Finley that “any sentence other than prison would undermine the community’s respect for the law.” He then imposed two 20-year terms that will run concurrently.
Prosecutors also filed to seize the Volcano ranch in a forfeiture, and De Lima said the Finley family will pay $85,000 to settle that case.
Two twenty year terms for gardening? 240 months! Judge Hara, do you know that the average incarceration for murder and non-negligent manslaughter is only 232 months? I hope we all feel safer, knowing that this 65-year-old churchgoing grandfather will probably die in prison. That oughta send a message to the community, huh, Judge Hara?
The judge asked why a person with Finley’s background would be a commercial marijuana grower. Uh, did you catch that part about an ounce of a dried weed costing about as much as pure palladium mined from the earth? It’s the prohibition that creates the profits that leads to three indoor grow operations.
The war on marijuana is just a money-making venture for everyone involved. Finley made money selling the marijuana, now law enforcement and the government get to make some money from asset forfeiture and the $85,000 fine
Tags: asset forfeiture, Hawaii
April 27th, 2008 at 4:21 am
I find it simply amazing to cage a man for growing a plant. I could maybe see a year or so. But imprisoning a man for two concurrent TWENTY YEAR sentences!!!! It’s no wonder America is the most hated nation in the world.
April 29th, 2008 at 2:31 pm
Two 20 year terms? What the hell was the second 20 year term for? Oh, maybe the judge thought he shouldn’t be released too soon or NEVER! Sad.
May 3rd, 2008 at 6:55 pm
My dad was a public defender/criminal defense attorney in Hawaii for many years. He says that in the Islands, thing work differently, and that it may not be as bad as it sounds. He recalled a client who was given 20+ years, and seeing the guy in a coffee shop less than a year later, out on parole. Not so in other states, 20 years means likely at least 10 years incarceration.