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

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California NORML, 2215-R Market St. #278, San Francisco CA 94114
-(415) 563- 5858 - http://www.canorml.org