Glenn Christman

[Key West]

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Glenn Christman

5 years - Marijuana Conspiracy

I was blindsided. I had no idea what our government was doing prior to this case. Here is a short summary of a long story:
I was linked to a marijuana grow three months after the bust; I lived three hours away. I had five codefendants; four are doing 37 months under the safety valve, and will be out soon. The fifth codefendant hasn't been charged, and, we suspect, won't be. We believe he turned 'snitch' to save his own hide; that's how they got me. He has been arrested and released twice since then, and has yet to spend even one day in jail.

I had no criminal record, yet I was sentenced to five years. The extra time I got was due to a two-point enhancement for 'managerial role', because a few people said, "Yes, Glenn would tell me what to do sometimes."

We were all equals in this operation.

I agreed on the five years and $20,000 fine, but at sentencing, the judge imposed an extra $30,000. Only one other codefendant got a $8000 fine; no one else received any fines or forfeiture. (The house that held our grow operation was seized.)

We all figured that a first-time non-violent marijuana offense would get us maybe a few months work release, and that would have been the case had this been a state charge. The feds threw the book at us.

Their count was 2300 plants, but 60% of them were three inch starter plants, 30% were less then three feet, and 10% less then four feet. None of the plants were mature. They got the numbers up by giving 1000 grams to a plant that didn't even weigh 10 grams, and would only weigh 60 grams at maturity. Some of these plants were only two inches tall!

My attorney in this case was Jeff Steinborn, whom I hired for my godmother the day after she was arrested. My godmother is 60 years old, and doing 37 months. We did everything we could to keep her sentence down as much as possible.

I am trying to keep this brief, but it is hard to leave out the devastation this has caused my family.

I have been in prison for eight months as of this writing, and now see a horrible part of our government that I didn't know existed. I am 40 years old, and always thought that the only people who got long years in prison had long records or committed violent crimes. Maybe if more people realized what was going on, something might be done about it.

My wife and kids are holding strong, even though the fines and my incarceration have forced us to sell our home and some rental properties. My wife had to borrow $10,000 from her dad to pay on my fine before we were able to sell the house. She has been forced into a position even harder than mine. She works 60 - 70 hours a week, takes care of our grandkids, visits me seven days a month, and brings my youngest daughter and oldest granddaughter to visit me once a month. I couldn't make it without her.

http://www.november.org/thewall/case...ristman-g.html