FARMINGTON – A Wilton man received an 18-month suspended sentence, will be on probation for 18 months and pay a $400 fine for having 3 pounds of harvested marijuana in his basement.
Eric Urdsick, 32, was indicted in January on one count of marijuana cultivation, one count of trafficking in a Schedule Z drug, namely marijuana and criminal forfeiture of property.
Assistant Attorney General David Fisher told the court that Maine Drug Enforcement Agency investigator Brian Ross conducted a search of Urdsick’s home on Applegate Lane in Wilton on Sept. 27, 2012 and found a total of three pounds of harvested marijuana in the basement. Cash was also found there.
In Franklin County Superior Court on Wednesday, the cultivation and trafficking charges were dismissed and instead he pleaded guilty to the new charge of felony unlawful possession of schedule drugs, along with a $380 forfeiture.
He received an 18-month sentence, all suspended, 18 months of probation with substance abuse conditions that include submitting to police search and testing for illegal drugs.
the headline should be:
Wilton man gets suspended sentence for 3 pounds of marijuana
What a fabulous use of police resources and the court’s time. We should really pat ourselves on the back for keeping violent criminals like him… out of jail, which is exactly where he should be.
Can we PLEASE just end prohibition already and get back to working on what really matters? Colorado and Washington are lapping up the tax dollars while we’re sitting here looking like fools arresting nonviolent “offenders.” Please support State Rep. Diane Russell’s bill to stop squandering our time and money on a failed drug war.
Why do we keep reading about people getting reduced sentences. What do people learn from this? Maybe if we start teaching people harsher lessons they might actually get it. Then again probably not. People do not want to work. They just want to sit around and complain about the low paying jobs so they decide to sell drugs, live off of the state, or both.
Just because our tyrannical government calls it a drug doesn’t mean that it is anything more than a plant.
Are you saying that this particular offender is non violent or all pot smokers are non violent. I do not feel it is a waste of time or tax dollars. I know I would not want my kids smoking this stuff. Lets legalize it like alcohol so more people can think that they are superman/women and get on the road injure or kill more people while they are impaired. I love how people think that pot is such a safe drug. What’s next. . . legalizing prostitution? Nevada allows why not right. Everybody else is doing it why not us.(sarcasm for those of you who think I am being serious)
Maybe that should be a good article for the DB to write.
Report on the pro and cons for MJ legalization.
I think all folks support not having to spend resources to control it if it was not seriously detrimental
to society.
When I used to help in a retail store, folks would ask if I wanted ID for their checks.
I said, heck no – in Maine if you sell some dope, you get a fine, but if you pass a bad check, you’ll get jail time plus a fine ! Only once did someone not write a check. Vaguely recall it was a young girl and she misunderstood the difference between a bounced and bad check (one not covered later) !
@ Non Violent Really…I’ve hanging around pot smokers for thirty-five years and have never seen one become violent. They are usually sitting on the couch eating Doritos while reading a book or watching re-runs of Seinfeld. Your comments make it obvious that you know very little about the effects of marijuana or the healing qualities that it posseses. I have a friend that has taught school for twenty-nine years, and been nominated for teacher of the year. She smokes daily to combat crones disease. I have two friends that use MJ to help with complications from Multiple Sclerosis. You are wrong to suggest that pot makes people feel superhuman and then they get behind the wheel…They are probably playing cribbage or weeding their tomato garden. Please my friend, do some reading on the subject…open your mind…and your heart
My thing is the fine…….$400? You can pay more than that for traffic tickets, and those don’t involve all the law enforcement investigations, court time and costs etc. that this type of case creates. If no other meaningful sentence, then at least make the fine cover those taxpayer costs. Or, if this type of case isn’t that big a deal, then lets look at doing something about laws we care little about. Blue laws?
Nothing like stocking up a bit incase of a rainy day. What a waste of freekin time and money,…………over a weed that probably hurts less people a year than bumper crop of acorns.
The law is the law until changed. Marijuana is an illegal drug subject to the federal law. Some people want to select which laws they want to obey and which ones to disregard. Marijuana is a drug plant.
Do any of you actually think this guy would pay the state taxes if he were legally able to sell marijuana? Would the guy that grows it in the woods behind his house and sells it pay taxes on what he sells? Give me a break. Do you think the State is going to take away his EBT card for getting arrested for breaking its (the States) laws? No. There are plenty of jobs out there but if you owned a company or business would any of you hire these people recently arrested for these drug violations to work for you? Politicians say that they have the answers but remember that they do not have to fool the people all the time, a majority on election day is usually enough.
Gordon has a point. The dude broke the law so why shouldn’t he do the time and pay the fine??
Fine for a malfunctioning plate light, not a broken one, just one that isn’t illuminating properly because it is covered with dirt, $173!! Things that make you go hmmmmm.
@Libertarian…well said.
@Elmer yes, absolutely. I can guarantee you the vast majority of smokers would happily pay exorbitant taxes not to have to sneak around at the risk of being labeled as criminals. Look at the revenue the two states that legalized last year are currently raking in.
How much of the price of a pack of tobacco cigarettes is pure tax? And yet — how many pay it? How many people are growing tobacco in their backyards to avoid tax, Elmer?
For that matter, how many people continued making bathtub gin after prohibition ended? Ever have to make a quiet run out to your friend in the County to get some moonshine? No, you haven’t, because it’s taxed and regulated, which is the responsible thing for our government to do.
Well if my opinion matters there are pros and cons to everything in this world the good the bad the ugly. Marijuana is used for alot of medical purposes and is legal in Maine. Not federally. But as a person who also has friends who have family members with chronic pain due to years of hard work and wear and tear do I see really need this drug and seen it has helped. I’m not saying that selling mounds of this is okay by any means if it is not medical purposes but we also live in a economy where jobs are scarce and alot of people can’t survive off one job they get multiple jobs and still can’t make ends meet so if they choose to do extra curricular activies that’s their decision and they are old enough to know the consequences. Again I’m not campaigning its right I’m just looking at this from both sides of the spectrum and we all should too its good to have a good old fashioned debate.
@Benjamin,
I am all for taxing it and feel it should be up there triple the cigarette tax. And I bet you will find lots of people do grow tobacco in their back yards and, no, they do not pay tax on it. Google tobacco seeds and see for yourself. If your argument is that people do it anyway so the state should just tax it, then why stop with pot. Tax OXY’s, heroin, cocaine. Heck we could even have a child molester tax, a rapist tax etc after all they are going to do it and wouldn’t have to sneak around and be “labeled as criminals”.