Christopher Bartkowicz Sentenced To Five Years

Christopher Bartkowicz, a Highlands Ranch man who ran a medical-marijuana-growing operation from the basement of his home, was sentenced this morning to five years in federal prison.

Bartkowicz pleaded guilty in October to federal drug charges in connection with the operation, which Drug Enforcement Administration agents raided after Bartkowicz showed the grow to 9News. In a plea agreement, Bartkowicz and federal prosecutors settled on a prison term of five years, and federal District Court Judge Philip Brimmer chose to accept that deal. His release will be followed by eight years of supervision.

Bartkowicz will be the first member of Colorado's medical-marijuana industry to serve federal prison time for actions he says were legal under Colorado law. Agents seized more than 100 plants from Bartkowicz's house, but Bartkowicz said he was a medical-marijuana caregiver to several patients and sold the rest to legal dispensaries.

Federal authorities have said they targeted Bartkowicz because they believe he grew more plants than Colorado law allowed, because he had prior state-level drug convictions and because his operation was about two blocks from a school.

Last year, Bartkowicz lost a bid to be able to use a medical defense in his federal court case. Because all marijuana cultivation is illegal under federal law, that left him with few options but to strike a deal with prosecutors. Bartkowicz, because of his prior convictions, potentially faced a life sentence under the initial charges against him.

This article was originally posted here

Medical Marijuana Patient Charged With Distribution

Michelle Whitmire (Photo: Jeffco DA)

Originally reported by DenverPost.com

Police suspect a cafeteria manager at a Jefferson County high school of serving up marijuana to her daughter's teenage friends and other children, said a spokeswoman for the Jefferson County District Attorney's Office.

Police arrested 51-year-old Michelle Whitmire of Golden on Thursday after an officer visited her home at about 9:30 p.m. to arrest a different individual and noticed a smell of marijuana in the house, according to the arrest affidavit.

The affidavit states that the officer questioned three teenagers in the home, who said that the smell came from Whitmire's room and that she had a medical marijuana license. The affidavit says that one teen told the officer that she "gives it to all the kids." The teen gave the officer names of high-school, middle-school and elementary-school children to whom the teen said Whitmire supplied marijuana, according to the affidavit.

Whitmire is employed by the Jefferson County School District as the cafeteria manager at Jefferson High School. She has worked for the district since 2006. District officials say that she has been placed on paid administrative leave.

Whitmireposted a $10,000 bond the same day she was arrested and faces charges of distribution of marijuana and contributing to the delinquency of a minor, said news release from Jefferson County District Attorney's Office Spokeswoman Pam Russell.

Whitmire is scheduled to appear in court Jan. 24.