Question: Whatever happened to Roger Christie, the Hawaii island “cannabis minister” who was being held without bail and had trial scheduled for April 2011 on marijuana charges?

Answer: Christie, who is accused of using his Hawaii Cannabis Ministry in Hilo as a front to operate a drug trafficking enterprise, continues to be held at the Federal Detention Center near the Honolulu Airport, according to the Federal Bureau of Prisons online database.

Jury selection and trial are scheduled for Feb. 28 before Judge Leslie Kobayashi.

Christie will likely be additionally charged in January with counts of money laundering, said his attorney, Deputy Public Defender Alexander Silvert.

At that time, the trial will be rescheduled, probably between March and May, Silvert said.

Christie has maintained he is a minister who uses marijuana as part of church sacrament.

Hawaii County and federal law enforcement officers arrested Christie on July 8, 2010, along with 13 other Hawaii island residents on federal conspiracy and marijuana manufacturing, possession and distribution charges.

Others arrested include employees of the Hawaii Cannabis Ministry and people who allegedly supplied marijuana to the ministry.

A federal grand jury indicted them in June 2010.

U.S. Attorney Florence Nakakuni said a day after the arrests that Christie ran a large-scale marijuana business and the group was heavily involved in it.

“There is no law that protects his allegations of using marijuana religiously,” she said then.

A two-year investigation by federal and county law enforcement yielded 2,296 marijuana plants, nine weapons, 33 pounds of processed marijuana, more than $21,000 in cash and four properties.

Christie and Sherryanne L. St. Cyr allegedly manufactured, distributed and sold marijuana at the ministry, while ministry employees Lenore Friend and Timothy M. Mann assisted them, officials said.

Christie allegedly recruited Friend and Mann to start up a marijuana cultivation operation for the ministry.

Hawaii County police officers and agents from the Drug Enforcement Administration and Internal Revenue Service raided his home and ministry on March 10.

At Christie’s Hilo apartment, they seized about two pounds of processed marijuana and $21,494 in cash.

Plants were seized from other defendants’ homes, including a seizure of 1,108 plants from a Keaau home, 856 plants from an Ocean View home and smaller amounts from other homes.

Christie said he filed papers with the IRS declaring himself a minister of THC Ministry.

Christie said he uses marijuana while providing sacraments, and the ministry’s website says cultivation and enjoyment of cannabis is a fundamental human right provided by God and protected by the First Amendment.

Hawaii’s medical marijuana law permits a person with a physician’s certification to possess and use marijuana to treat a debilitating condition.

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This update was written by Star-Advertiser reporter Leila Fujimori. Suggest a topic for “Whatever Happened To…” by writing Honolulu Star-Advertiser, 500 Ala Moana Blvd., Suite 7-210, Honolulu 96813; call 529-4747; or email cityeditors@staradvertiser.com.