Pubdate: Thu, 11 Sep 2014
Source: Honolulu Star-Advertiser (HI)
Copyright: 2014 Star Advertiser
Contact: 
http://www.staradvertiser.com/info/Star-Advertiser_Letter_to_the_Editor.html
Website: http://www.staradvertiser.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/5154
Author: Dan Nakaso
Page: B1

POT ADVOCATE MOVING TO HALFWAY HOUSE

Big Island Resident Roger Christie Has Been in a Federal Detention 
Center Since 2010

Hawaii island cannabis advocate Roger Christie, who pleaded guilty in 
September 2013 to federal charges of marijuana trafficking and 
failing to file tax returns, is being released to a halfway house.

Christie is considered an icon among some marijuana supporters and 
has been in custody in Honolulu's Federal Detention Center since his 
arrest in July 2010 on the trafficking indictment.

State Sen. Will Espero had planned to visit him but was told that 
Christie was to be released Thursday, Espero said. Jeff Davis, a 
Christie friend and Libertarian candidate for Hawaii governor, also 
said Christie is being released Thursday.

Espero, in his role as chairman of the Public Safety and Military 
Affairs Committee, first visited Christie last year in federal prison.

"Without defending his guilt or innocence, I have felt that at the 
very least he should have been given bail," Espero said. "The state 
of Hawaii allows people charged with sexual assault and murder to 
post bail, if possible. Here's an individual who was charged with 
cannabis charges, yet they wouldn't give him bail. It seems like 
there's some injustice here."

Christie, now 65, was scheduled to be released Nov. 14. So Espero 
took Christie's release to a halfway house as a "sign that the feds 
are re-looking at the situation and maybe realizing at this stage 
that he is not a threat and should be given some liberties."

Neither federal detention officials nor Christie's attorney could be 
reached for comment late Wednesday.

Christie and his wife, Sherryanne Christie, ran the now-defunct Hilo 
marijuana ministry called The Hawaii Cannabis Ministry.

He pleaded guilty to one count of marijuana trafficking and two 
counts of failing to file tax returns for income earned in 2008 and 
2009. The income tax loss was reported in court as $7,100 in 2008 and 
$6,844 in 2009.

The trafficking charge carries a prison term of five to 40 years and 
each of the two tax charges carries maximum one-year jail terms.

Sherryanne Christie, who admitted she was an "intermediate" leader in 
the ministry, pleaded guilty to a lesser marijuana trafficking charge.

Roger Christie maintained that marijuana is a sacrament and an 
integral part of his ministry. Federal prosecutors argued that his 
ministry was a front to mask his marijuana enterprise. The former 
head of The Hawaii Cannabis Ministry pleaded guilty in 2013 to 
trafficking and tax charges
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom