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.
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