Mich. Farmer With Cancer Gets No Prison In Marijuana Case

[bobandtorey]

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. -- A Newaygo County farmer who let his 160 acres of corn be planted with marijuana reluctantly agreed to the arrangement to help pay a dizzying array of bills for his cancer treatments, according to court records and investigators.

The October 2014 harvest was impressive. Police uprooted 860 marijuana plants and found another 780 pounds of harvested marijuana in various stages of drying.

John A. Mast, who's been battling cancer since 2012, could have faced up to 20 years in prison. Instead, U.S. District Judge Paul L. Maloney on Wednesday sentenced Mast to three years on supervised release and ordered that he pay a $7,500 fine.

The marijuana bust last October about 10 miles northwest of Big Rapids is one of the largest West Michigan marijuana operations to be shut down in recent years, said Assistant U.S. Attorney Mark Courtade, who prosecuted the case.

"He's had a lot of problems with leukemia and putting him in prison could have killed him,'' Courtade said. "He has no prior record and with his medical condition and the fact he worked with the government in this investigation – I have no problem with the sentence.''

Mast's son, Andrew, wrote a letter to Maloney pleading for compassion, saying incarceration and separation from his family would be akin to a death sentence.

"I do not believe he would be able to survive being incarcerated for any amount of time,'' Andrew Mast wrote. "I sincerely believe my dad has regretted tremendously the decisions he made and would not disappoint if given a second chance.''

Mast, a respected building contractor from Mecosta County, got involved in the marijuana operation in spring, 2014 at the behest of his brother, Moses Mast, who lives in Kentucky, court records show.

John Mast agreed to let his brother grow marijuana on land he leased north of Whipple Lake on the border of Home and Barton townships. For his efforts, Mast would receive a percentage of the profits once all the marijuana was sold. The plan was to truck the marijuana back to Kentucky to be sold, according to federal court records.

Moses Mast, who is awaiting sentencing, and three confederates drove to Newaygo County from Kentucky in June, 2014 to plant the marijuana, court records show. He returned several times over the summer to tend to the plot, staying at a motel in Big Rapids.

The harvest got underway last October and was about halfway completed when a Newaygo County Sheriff's deputy happened upon the grow operation while conducting a follow-up investigation in an unrelated case.

As the deputy approached the house North Pine Avenue, he came upon a pole barn with a slider door wide open and marijuana hanging and drying from the rafters, federal court records show.

Officers from the Central Michigan Enforcement Team obtained a search warrant for the teal-colored pole barn, a single-wide trailer, a dilapidated barn and outbuildings.

The Oct. 23, 2014 search turned up 780 pounds of harvested marijuana, court records show. A search of a nearby corn field turned up 860 plants growing among the corn. Tarps were set up in a line of pine trees to shelter the drying marijuana, court records show.

John Mast admitted to owning several pieces of equipment near the tarps and in the barn "that were obviously used to harvest and hang marijuana,'' federal court records show.

Several people wrote letters on behalf of the church-going father of three.

"The toll from the cancer and how to pay for it I believe led to his running afoul of the law at that time,'' longtime friend and Deerfield Township Trustee Gary Lambrix wrote in a letter to the judge. "I feel that he understands that he did wrong and is really remorseful.''

 

http://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/2015/10/28/michigan-marijuana-farmer-leukemia-prison-sentence/74775256/

[t-pain]

one wonders why they didnt just grow in kentucky.

[trichcycler]