Hawaii island marijuana advocate Roger Christie pleaded guilty to a marijuana trafficking charge Friday and admitted he ran an operation that grew and distributed marijuana through his Hilo ministry.
But Christie also said he believes his marijuana activities were permissible under a federal religious freedom law, and he will appeal a pretrial ruling that the law didn’t apply to him.
Christie, 64, now faces a mandatory prison term of five to 40 years when he is sentenced Jan. 22 by U.S. District Judge Leslie Kobayashi.
But if he prevails in his appeal to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, his conviction will be reversed, and he will be allowed to withdraw his guilty plea.
Christie’s wife, Sherryanne, 62, pleaded guilty to a lesser marijuana trafficking charge. She admitted she was an "intermediate" leader of the marijuana operation, but does not face a mandatory prison term and will also appeal the pretrial ruling. Her sentencing is scheduled for Jan. 27.
The agreements involve what’s called conditional guilty pleas and cancel what could have been a weeks-long trial.
The deals also resolve more than three years of pretrial litigation that followed a massive two-year investigation by federal and Hawaii County law enforcement into Christie’s Hawaii Cannabis Ministry in Hilo.
The prosecution was based on more than 14,000 recorded calls from Christie’s cellphone and land-line phones at the ministry and his home.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Kawahara told reporters even if the Christies were convicted, the prosecution would still be faced with appeals, and the conditional guilty pleas served the "best interests" of both sides.
U.S. Attorney Florence Nakakuni issued a statement, saying, "This prosecution demonstrated the effectiveness of cooperative efforts among federal, state and local law enforcement authorities in addressing persistent, significant illegal drug trafficking activity."
Christie and his wife were among 14 indicted by a federal grand jury in July 2010 on the marijuana trafficking charges. Christie was the only one to be held without bail.
Thomas Otake, Christie’s attorney, said he’s confident that his client will receive a five-year sentence.
Federal guidelines call for a sentence of between 27 and 33 months, but the judge must impose the statutory five-year minimum, he said.
With credit for the time he’s spent behind bars without bail and the way federal authorities calculate the prison term, Christie could be released in about six months, Otake said.
Otake, however, said Christie and his wife want to make clear that they are not giving up.
"They are simply taking their fight to a higher court," he said, referring to their appeals to the 9th Circuit.
Kawahara told reporters that after Kobayashi issued the pretrial rulings, both sides came to the conclusion that it would make sense to reach the conditional plea agreements.
Kobayashi had ruled that the federal Religious Freedom Restoration Act does not cover the Christies. She ruled prosecutors showed that Christie’s operation posed a risk that marijuana would be distributed to people who were not in the ministry.
Kawahara said he will have to review the presentence investigation for both defendants before he can say what he will recommend at the sentencing.
One of the reasons for the trial delays is that the Christies were considering, then turned down, an earlier plea deal.
Otake said the deal involved Christie receiving a five-year prison term while his wife would have to agree to serve a sentence of up to 27 months.
But the current plea deals allow the two to appeal pretrial rulings, and Sherryanne Christie’s attorney is free to argue that she should not serve any prison time, according to Otake.
Kawahara said one factor in offering the conditional plea agreement was Attorney General Eric Holder’s announcement last month that the Justice Department would not challenge Colorado and Washington laws legalizing marijuana and would focus on egregious trafficking cases involving marijuana distributed to minors or by gangs.
Kawahara said Holder’s remarks allowed prosecutors here to reduce the charge against Sherryanne Christie to the lesser marijuana trafficking count that does not carry the mandatory five-year minimum term.
She was initially charged with the more severe trafficking count carrying the sentence of five to 40 years in prison.
The Christies have maintained that marijuana is a sacrament in the ministry, but the prosecution said the Christies used religion to cover their moneymaking marijuana operation.
As part of the agreement, Roger Christie also pleaded guilty to failing to file tax returns for 2008 and 2009 when he was earning at least $52,000 each year.
Otake said some of the income came from marijuana, but said the ministry also incurred overhead costs for rent and pay for employees.
Christie and his wife, Otake said, were not "getting rich" from their ministry.
Otake said while his client must remain in custody pending the appeal, his wife will be allowed to remain free on bond.
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ROGER CHRISTIE PLEA AGREEMENT
Under Roger Christie’s plea agreement:
>> Christie pleaded guilty to a marijuana trafficking charge, which carries a prison term of five to 40 years.
>> Christie pleaded guilty to two counts of failing to file federal tax returns for 2008 and 2009 when he had an income of at least $52,000 each year. The federal government’s tax loss was $7,100 for 2008 and $6,844 for 2009.
>> Christie agreed to forfeit $21,494 seized by law enforcement from a locked safe in a bedroom closet and from a bank safety deposit box.
>> Christie agreed to forfeit his Hilo apartment.
>> Christie can appeal pretrial rulings, including U.S. District Judge Leslie Koba?ya?shi’s decision denying him from raising the defense that his marijuana activities were protected under the federal Religious Freedom Restoration Act.
>> Prosecutors will dismiss six other marijuana felony charges.
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