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Fry-Schafer Face Federal Sentencing | |
Date | Wednesday March 19 |
Time | 1:00 PM - 3:00 PM |
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Location Details | |
March 19th, Sacramento U.S. Court House, 5th & I St. | |
Event Type | Court Date |
Organizer/Author | |
Federal Sentencing of Dr. Mollie Fry & Dale Schafer
March 19th, Sacramento U.S. Court House, 5th & I St. Couple Face Possible 5-Year Minimum for Prop 215 Garden The federal sentencing of medical marijuana defendants Dr. Marion "Mollie" Fry and her husband, attorney Dale Schafer, will take place on Wednesday, March 19 at the US courthouse in Sacramento at 2 PM (postponed from original date Mar 5). It will be preceded by a press conference at 1 PM in front of the courthouse. The couple were denied the right to defend their actions as being in accordance with California's medical marijuana law, Prop. 215. The couple face a likely 5-year mandatory minimum sentence for conspiracy to cultivate and dispense medical marijuana for a small number of Dr. Fry's patients. They ran - and continue to run - a popular medical marijuana clinic in El Dorado County that provides recommendations for many needy patients in the Sierra Foothills: http://www.docfry.com. Like other federal defendants, they were denied the right to mention medical marijuana or Prop 215 in their trial. Both are in fragile health - Dale suffers from hemophilia, hepatitis, and chronic back pain, and Mollie is a breast cancer survivor. The court denied a request by Schafer's doctor to let him use Marinol to relieve his pain after his arrest. The couple are currently caring for three beautiful children and a grandchild in their home. They were among the first medical marijuana providers raided by the Bush administration, just 17 days after 9/11, but were not indicted until June 22nd, 2005, after the Raich decision was overturned by the Supreme Court. The sentence they face is particularly egregious compared to other defendants who have grown far more marijuana. They are liable to a five year mandatory minimum because they were convicted of growing (not a lot more than) 100 plants over a period of three years, an amount far smaller than is usually prosecuted by federal authorities. The jury was forced to add three different years' worth of gardens to come up with the 100 plant count. They were not allowed to argue at their trial that local law enforcement had entrapped them by telling them it was OK to grow their relatively modest garden or that they had received advice of counsel supporting their right to grow and care for others under California's medical marijuana law, Prop. 215. The Attorney General, the District Attorney and the Sheriff in El Dorado County had all indicated support for Dr. Fry and Schafer's activities, but the jury was also denied this information. Mollie Fry and Dale Schafer are among over 100 defendants who have been federally charged for medical marijuana offenses that were arguably legal under California law: http://www.canorml.org/news/fedmmjcases.html. The Eastern District of California, including Sacramento, has seen a particularly aggressive crackdown against small-time offenders, led by US Attorney McGregor Scott: http://www.canorml.org/news/EasternDistrictCrackdown.htm. California NORML director and Prop. 215 co-author Dale Gieringer denounced the treatment of Dr. Fry and her husband as a "travesty of justice" and called the conduct of US Justice Department officials "cruel, vindictive, and mean-spirited." Contacts: Bobby Eisenberg-FRY/SCHAFER Defense Committee Bobby [at] docfry.com - (530) 823-9963 - http://www.docfry.com Dale Gieringer, Coordinator, California NORML canorml@igc California NORML Press Release Mar. 17th, 2008 -- California NORML, 2215-R Market St. #278, San Francisco CA 94114 -(415) 563- 5858 - http://www.canorml.org |
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