[420 Girl]

CO - A man charged with operating a large marijuana-growing operation in his Highlands Ranch basement abruptly reversed course today and said he won't agree to a plea deal with prosecutors.

Chris Bartkowicz had been scheduled to sign off on the agreement with prosecutors today during a "change of plea" hearing in federal court. But, instead, Bartkowicz's attorney told federal District Court Judge Philip Brimmer that Bartkowicz has decided he wants to argue his case at trial.

The next step is for the U.S. Attorney's Office to formally indict Bartkowicz, which the office's attorney on the case called "very likely."

"My client informs me that, in the event he is indicted, he intends to proceed to trial," Bartkowicz's attorney, Joseph Saint-Veltri said.

The move carries considerable risk for Bartkowicz. Though he says all of the marijuana he grew was provided either directly to medical-marijuana patients or to dispensaries, state medical-marijuana law may provide little to no shield for him in federal court. Bartkowicz also has prior felony drug convictions in state court, which would serve as sentence-enhancers if he were convicted in federal court, U.S. Attorney's spokesman Jeff Dorschner said.

The charge Bartkowicz is currently facing already carries a minimum 5-year prison sentence and a maximum 40-year sentence.

Drug Enforcement Administration agents arrested Bartkowicz in February after he showed his growing operation to a reporter from 9News, which posted a story about it on its website in advance of airing a broadcast of the interview. Jeffrey Sweetin, the head of the Denver DEA office, said federal agents targeted Bartkowicz because they believed he was growing more marijuana than allowed by state law — in excess of 200 plants, when he had documentation that he was the caregiver for only a handful of patients — and because he had prior convictions and was operating near a school.

A Justice Department memo from last year instructs federal prosecutors to back off people operating in "clear and unambiguous compliance" with their state's medical-marijuana laws. But the memo still allows prosecutors to pursue cases against people operating outside the law and doesn't require prosecutors to first prove violations of state law before proceeding with such cases.

Defendants in similar cases in other states have been barred from raising medical defenses in federal court. All marijuana cultivation and distribution is illegal under federal law, regardless of the drug's intended use.

http://www.420magazine.com/forums/in...nts-trial.html