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Rhode Island Drug Defense If you are charged with growing or cultivating marijuana in Rhode Island, you are facing a very serious felony drug charge. Rhode Island General Law Section 21-28-4.01(a) prohibits the growing or cultivation of marijuana and provides that upon conviction you can be sentenced to up to thirty (30) years in prison and fined up to a $100,000. Attorney Matthew Marin utilizes his knowledge and experience and will work aggressively and proactively to achieve the best possible results in your case. If you are accused or charged with a marijuana growing or cultivation offense, contact us immediately as time is of the essence.
RHODE ISLAND DRUG LAWYER AVAILABLE 24/7 AT 401-228-8271 mm@matthewtmarin.com At the Marin, Barrett, and Murphy Law Firm, we have offices located in both downtown Providence and downtown Newport, Rhode Island. We defend individuals charged with cultivation of marijuana. |
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Many of our clients have no criminal record and the cultivation charge is their first encounter with law enforcement. Cultivation of marijuana is a serious drug charge that can have serious consequences which are extremely destructive to an individual with no criminal record who was attempting to cultivate marijuana for personal consumption.
Law enforcement officers throughout Rhode Island are using new and untested (and potentially unlawful) techniques to uncover marijuana cultivation operations. Some of those investigative techniques include:
1. Neighbors reporting suspicious activity.
2. Officers enter the residence or property for an unrelated reason and observe the marijuana in plain view.
3. Officers utilize police aircraft to visually observe a cultivation operation from the air.
4. Estranged love interest or disgruntled employee who reports their knowledge of the operation to the police.
5. Confidential Informant working with the police after their own arrest .
6. Officers obtain information regarding unusually high electric bills at a residence.
7. Officers visually observe indoor growing machinery running, such as a humming ventilation system.
8. Offiers obtain a thermal image scan of the suspected property which indicates it is "heat soaked" verifying an indoor growing operation.
If you have been accused or charged with cultivating marijuana in Rhode Island, the police officers involved likely obtained a search warrant to search the premises and / or seize the evidence prior to the search. It is therefore imperative that a lawyer begins working on your behalf to gather as much information as soon as possible in order to attempt to quash or reverse the search warrant and to possibly expose confidential informants.
AVAILABLE 24/7 AT
401-228-8271
mm@matthewtmarin.com
Free Case Evaluation: To discuss your Rhode Island drug charges with an experienced and aggressive Rhode Island Drug Defense Lawyer, call 401-228-8271. I am available 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
Under Rhode Island Law, marijuana is classified as a Schedule I controlled substance. As you can see from the Rhode Island Statute provided below, anyone who cultivates/grows/manufactures marijuana, a Schedule I drug, is subject to the following penalties:
CULTIVATION OF MARIJUANA PENALTIES
- may be imprisoned for not more than thirty (30) years;
- may be fined not more than one hundred thousand dollars ($100,000) nor less than three thousand dollars ($3,000)RECENT CULTIVATION OF MARIJUANA CASE VICTORY
CRIMINAL CHARGES:
(1) POSSESSION WITH INTENT TO DISTRIBUTE MARIJUANA
(2) FELONY CULTIVATION OF MARIJUANA
(3) FELONY CONSPIRACY TO VIOLATE THE CONTROLLED SUBSTANCES ACT
POLICE REPORT: A local police department received information that suspicious narcotics activity was occurring at a residence in town. The police took up surveillance over the suspect house and witnessed an indoor grow facility operating from within the basement. The electrical bills for the house were obtained and confirmed that an extremely high amount of electricity was being utilized at the residence. A thermal imaging scan was done of the home and verified that an extremely high amount of heat was emanating from the basement. Based on the information obtained, the police executed a search warrant on the home. From within the home the police discovered an indoor grow of marijuana consisting of 44 marijuana plants and a sophisticated indoor hydroponics grow operation. Based on the evidence discovered from within the home the Client, a resident, was charged with possession with intent to distribute marijuana, felony cultivation of marijuana, and felony conspiracy to violate the controlled substances act.
RESULT:
(1) REDUCED TO SIMPLE POSSESSION OF MARIJUANA and case Filed for one year (no conditions) on 1/25/12
(2) DISMISSED
(3) DISMISSED
CRIMINAL CHARGES:
(1) POSSESSION WITH INTENT TO DELIVER MARIJUANA
(2) DISTRIBUTION OF A CONTROLLED SUBSTANCE WITHIN A SCHOOL ZONE
(3) CULTIVATION OF MARIJUANA
POLICE REPORT: A neighbor reported a noise disturbance at an upstairs apartment. Upon approaching the apartment door, the Police detected a strong odor of marijuana emanating from within the apartment. The Police knocked on the door and the Client opened the door in reply. When the door was opened, the Police observed marijuana and evidence of marijuana cultivation in plain view. The Police then entered the apartment and seized two mature marijuana plants, planting material, and other marijuana cultivation tools. The Client was charged with possession with intent to deliver marijuana, distribution of a controlled substance within a school zone, and cultivation of marijuana.
RESULTS:
(1) REDUCED TO SIMPLE POSSESSION OF MARIJUANA and Filed for 1 year
(2) DISMISSED
(3) DISMISSED
CHARGES:
(1) POSSESSION WITH INTENT TO DELIVER MARIJUANA
(2) CULTIVATION OF MARIJUANA
POLICE REPORT: The police received a report from the Client's estranged wife that he was cultivating marijuana in his barn. Upon learing this information, the Police obtained consent from the estranged Wife to search the premises. During their search, the police discovered a large scale marijuana grow operation. They were able to identify nearly 40 mature marijuana plants growing under high powered indoor cultivation equipment. Based on the estranged Wife's statements and the evidence obtained by their search, the Client was charged with possession with intent to deliver marijuana and cultivation of marijuana.
RESULTS:
(1) REDUCED TO SIMPLE POSSESSION OF MARIJUANA and received one year suspended ACI and one year probation
(2) REDUCED TO SIMPLE POSSESSION OF MARIJUANA and received one year suspended ACI and one year probation to run consecutive to count one
CULTIVATION OF MARIJUANA CASES IN THE NEWS
June 3, 2011
VIA THE PROVIDENCE JOURNAL
Medical Marijuana Card-Holders Arrested
Two suspects who held state-issued marijuana cards but who were picked up in a drug raid were released on bail Thursday after an appearance in District Court, Warwick. Detective Capt. Robert S. Nelson of the Warwick Police said detectives obtained a warrant to search the 55 Woburn St. on Wednesday. Nelson said the detectives confiscated 31 marijuana plants, a small quantity of marijuana and cash. The suspects were charged with cultivating and delivering marijuana. Although the residents held marijuana cards issued by the state Department of Health, the amount of the plant they possessed exceeded the legal limit for growing it for medical reasons, Nelson said. He said also that they had sold marijuana illegally on several occasions.
May 16, 2011
VIA THE PROVIDENCE JOURNAL
R.I. Judge Upholds Rights of Medical-Pot Growers
A recent Cranston case that tested the state’s medical-marijuana law raises a question about whether people with the right to grow or possess marijuana to treat illnesses risk being jailed for owning a gun, even if they own it lawfully. The issue grew from Dean Derobbio’s arrest in January 2010 for allegedly conspiring with his roommate to possess marijuana with the intent to sell it. He was also charged with carrying a dangerous weapon while committing a crime of violence. The crime of violence was growing marijuana, according to prosecutors and the police, and the charge carries a mandatory three years in prison for a defendant convicted of a first offense.
The police charged Derobbio’s roommate, Joseph Joubert, with conspiracy and possessing marijuana with the intent to deliver. Derobbio held a patient card issued by the state Department of Health to use marijuana to treat severe pain caused by ruptured disks in his back, and he legally owned a 9mm pistol he kept in his nightstand, according to his lawyer, Michael F. Campopiano. Joubert had a primary-caregiver card, allowing him under the state’s medical-marijuana act passed by lawmakers in 2006 to grow marijuana for Derobbio.
The law spells out how much marijuana a person can grow and possess, but says nothing about guns. It, too, does not specify whether a patient can have two caregivers growing marijuana for him, as Derobbio did. Superior Court Judge Robert D. Krause seized upon those omissions in tossing out the charges earlier in May. “In my opinion,” Krause said, “this is a poorly drafted statute, and I don’t think ... a defendant ought to be criminally liable for inartful draftsmanship.”
He rejected the state’s argument that Derobbio could be pursued on the gun charge even if the court found he had the right to possess the marijuana and the pistol. “If I were to find that there was nothing unlawful about what these defendants had done by way of the medical-marijuana statute, and that they were within the framework of the statute, and did not exceed the amount of plants that are authorized, would you still pursue the prosecution [of the gun charge]?” Krause asked Special Assistant Attorney General Michael McCarthy at the May 4 hearing.
“With all due respect, your honor, I would,” McCarthy said. He explained that he would prosecute it under a law that says you cannot legally grow marijuana while being in possession of a firearm. “And, your honor, if you are cultivating marijuana, and if you are in possession of a firearm, even though [the medical-marijuana act] has stated you can grow marijuana, it is silent as to whether or not you can possess a firearm,” McCarthy said, according to a transcript of the hearing. Krause continued, “If you meet the requirements, if you have possession of plants that are within the legal limit under this marijuana act, and if you have a firearm at home, and you’re not a convicted felon, both of these are legal, yes?” “Yes,” McCarthy said. “But, nonetheless, you claim it’s criminal conduct.” Krause said. “As is being intoxicated in possession of a firearm,” McCarthy said.
In the end, Krause found that the 33 mature plants being grown at the 101 Marlow St. house by Joubert and his mother, Marie Joubert, fell within the legal limits of the medical-marijuana law since caregivers can have 24 plants apiece. The Jouberts were both caregivers to Derobbio, though the police said Marie had never been in the house, and she could not identify which plants were hers. “The statute doesn’t make it unlawful for two caregivers to have the same patient, does it?” Krause said, adding “What a wonderfully drafted statute we have. I don’t know who drafted this thing.” Attorney General Peter F. Kilmartin’s office plans to appeal Krause’s ruling with regard to the number of plants allowed at the house under the law, according to Stacey P. Veroni, criminal division chief. “Nobody can have collectively, or otherwise, more than 24 plants,” Veroni said.
Asked whether McCarthy’s position on Derobbio’s gun charge indicated the state’s stance, Kilmartin’s spokeswoman Amy Kempe said the appellate division was reviewing the matter. To Campopiano, one can infer the state’s position from McCarthy’s comments. “It’s what they said, and I find it shocking,” he said. “It appears that the state is trying to circumvent the legislation’s intent,” he said. As written, the law protects qualified patients and caregivers from arrest and criminal prosecution as long as they are abiding by the medical-marijuana law. Today, there are just over 3,400 licensed patients in Rhode Island, and 2,200 licensed caregivers.
“Judge Krause is absolutely interpreting it right,” he said. Kilmartin, who voted in favor of the medical-marijuana bill as a state lawmaker, plans to introduce legislation to tighten up the medical-marijuana laws. Senior lawyers there were working on modifications. “This collective-grow issue is an issue,” Veroni has said.
CULTIVATION OF MARIJUANA STATUTE
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(4) Any person, except as provided for in subdivision (2) of this subsection, who violates this subsection with respect to:
(i) A controlled substance classified in schedule I or II, is guilty of a crime and upon conviction may be imprisoned for not more than thirty (30) years, or fined not more than one hundred thousand dollars ($100,000) nor less than three thousand dollars ($3,000), or both;
Rhode Island Marijuana Lawyer Matthew Marin defends those individuals who charged with cultivation of marijuana and other marijuana charges throughout Rhode Island, including the following cities and towns: Block Island, Bristol, Burrillville, Central Falls, Charlestown, Coventry, Cranston, Cumberland, East Greenwich, East Providence, Exeter, Foster, Glocester, Hopkinton, Jamestown, Johnston, Lincoln, Little Compton, Middletown, Narragansett, Newport, New Shoreham, North Kingstown, North Providence, North Smithfield, Pawtucket, Portsmouth, Providence, Richmond, Scituate, Smithfield, South Kingstown, Tiverton, Warren, Warwick, Westerly, West Greenwich, West Warwick, Woonsocket. If you have been arrested in Rhode Island and charged with cultivation of marijuana or other drug charges, call immediately for a free initial consultation and case evaluation with an experienced Rhode Island Marijuana Defense Lawyer. Attorney Marin is available 24/7 at (401) 228-8271.
DISCLAIMER: This site and any information contained herein are intended for informational purposes only and should not be construed as legal advice. Seek competent legal counsel for advice on any legal matter. Also, the Rhode Island Supreme Court licenses all lawyers in the general practice of law, but does not license or certify any lawyer as an expert or specialist in any field of practice.
