[420 Girl]

Washington - A judge sentenced a Castle Rock man to 15 days in jail Friday for growing nearly 150 marijuana plants in his shop and falsifying his medical marijuana certificate when confronted by sheriff's deputies. The sentence was stayed pending appeal.

Matthew Chapman, 44, has said he used marijuana to treat chronic neck pain from a car accident. He had a doctor's approval to use the drug, but its expiration date had lapsed.

Deputy Prosecutor David Phelan asked that Chapman serve 60 days in jail for manufacturing marijuana and altering the expiration date on his medical marijuana certificate.

But Superior Court Judge Jim Warme said that letting a medical marijuana certificate lapse is "not much different than a driver's license expiring."

Warme added that the investigation and prosecution of Chapman "was initiated by the people who said, 'We're not going to make a big deal out of this any more.'" His comment was an apparent reference to authorities' policy of deprioritizing medical marijuana prosecutions.

Chapman stipulated to a charge of manufacturing marijuana last month. A jury convicted him Wednesday of illegally altering his medical marijuana certificate's expiration date and presenting it to deputies before they raided his property.

Defense attorney Thad Scudder had planned to use the medical marijuana certificate as a defense against the manufacturing charge, but Warme declared the defense inadmissible because Chapman's certicate was expired at the time of his arrest.

Deputies came to Chapman's home in December 2007 looking for his son, who was being investigated on a firearms charge. They got a warrant to search the property after they smelled marijuana and saw light coming from Chapman's shop, the sheriff's office said.

Authorities said Chapman presented deputies with a medical marijuana certificate with an altered expiration date.

Scudder said Chapman has since renewed his authorization to use medical marijuana. Chapman, Scudder said, plans to appeal. Warme allowed Chapman to remain free until the case is resolved by the appeals court.

This week's trial was the second for Chapman on the charge of altering a medical marijuana certificate. A trial last month resulted in a hung jury.

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