A federal judge sentenced a self-described Highlands Ranch medical-marijuana grower to five years in prison Friday, saying the man “miserably failed” to follow the law.
Christopher Bartkowicz — whose basement marijuana-growing operation was raided by Drug Enforcement Administration agents last year on the day an interview Bartkowicz conducted with 9News was to air — also was sentenced to eight years of supervision following his release from prison. Bartkowicz is the first person in Colorado to serve federal prison time for actions he maintained were legal under Colorado’s medical-marijuana law.
But federal District Court Judge Philip Brimmer rejected that assertion Friday, saying Bartkowicz grew more plants than state law allows and never met many of the patients who used his marijuana. That, Brimmer said, means the case is not an example of the federal government’s interfering with state law but rather fits with Bartkowicz’s three prior state-level marijuana convictions. Any marijuana growing is illegal under federal law.
“He’s choosing to violate state law again, and he’s cultivating marijuana,” Brimmer said.
Agents seized more than 100 plants from Bartkowicz’s house when they raided it in February. Bartkowicz said he was a medical-marijuana caregiver to several patients and sold the rest to legal dispensaries.
Prosecutors and Bartkowicz agreed to the sentence length as part of a plea deal Bartkowicz signed in October. Bartkowicz lost a bid to raise a medical defense in the case, which left him with little legal cover. Because of his prior drug convictions, Bartkowicz could have received a life sentence under the original charges.
Joseph Saint-Veltri, Bartkowicz’s attorney, said the deal was the best his client could hope for but said the resolution was still surreal.
“This all seems like a script written by Lewis Carroll,” Saint-Veltri said during the hearing, in reference to the “Alice in Wonderland” author.
“Hundreds of (marijuana) plants,” Saint-Veltri added later, “are being cultivated within a mile radius of this building as we speak, and they will continue to be cultivated . . . because the people of Colorado want that to happen.”
Federal authorities said they targeted Bartkowicz because he grew more plants than Colorado law allowed, because he had prior drug convictions, and because his operation was about two blocks from a school.
“Five years is a long time,” Assistant U.S. Attorney M.J. Menendez said during the sentencing hearing. “. . . It’s going to allow him time to get treatment, and it’s going to give him time to reflect on what brought him here today.”
Outside the federal courthouse before the sentencing, about 20 medical-marijuana activists gathered to protest. They held signs bearing messages such as, “Cannabis is not criminal,” and they accused the DEA of making an example out of Bartkowicz in retaliation for the 9News interview.
John Ingold: 303-954-1068 or jingold@denverpost.com
