By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter
CHEHALIS – A pair of brothers jailed earlier this year for growing lots of marijuana in a home they rented on Seminary Hill Road in Centralia pleaded guilty today.
Zeshawn H. Hasnani, 27, and Sohail Hasnani, 24, went before a judge in Lewis County Superior Court where their lawyers and the prosecutor recommended they be sentenced to one year and one day.
When they were charged, police said they had seized 90 plants in various stages of growth and prosecutors suggested the men were supplying product to medical marijuana dispensaries around the state, alleging also that one of their businesses was nothing more than a post office box in Florida.
A money laundering charge was dropped as part of a plea agreement.
Seattle attorney David Arganian said they both had medical marijuana authorizations, and had taken steps to get legal counsel but some advice they got was not the best.
“They weren’t running a cartel or anything like that,” Arganian said. “They were growing marijuana; they did a couple things, like I say, they shouldn’t have.”
While Initiative 502 passed by Washington voters in November has somewhat decriminalized recreational use of marijuana, no licenses have yet been issued to growers, distributors or retailers.
And local governments have kept at bay any legitimate cultivation of medical cannabis in the county via collective gardens through moratoriums and other means.
Lewis County Deputy Prosecutor Shane O’Rourke asked a judge to accept the plea agreement, noting it was because of the facts of the case and the risks of going to trial.
The Hasnanis pleaded guilty to manufacture of a controlled substance, marijuana and also to possession of a controlled substance, marijuana, with intent to deliver.
The standard sentencing range for their offenses is zero to six months, but both sides agreed to ask for a higher sentence so they could serve their time with the state Department of Corrections instead of in the local jail.
Judge Richard Brosey agreed.
Other charges which were dismissed included possession of marijuana and maintaining a premises for using controlled substances, as well as the special allegations of doing it near a school bus stop and committing the crimes while armed with a firearm.
Arganian said the college educated pair from Florida were shocked to have found themselves locked up on $250,000 bail, as was their family.
“They learned a lot,” he said. “Unfortunately, the hard way.”
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For background, read “Police: Centralia home a hub for marijuana for regional dispensaries” from Friday January 11, 2013, here
Tags: By Sharyn L. Decker, news reporter
Thanks to both of you. Makes sense now, and pretty interesting. And I agree w/u, Stats. While I empathize with the urge to punish people for their wrongdoings, we need to pay attention to what keeps people returning to lives of crime vs. becoming contributing members of society. If not for their benefit, at least for ours.
“Penitent”iaries originated as a place to repent, to evolve from the previous justice system of “shoot first ask questions later”. Now its evolved into a very expensive system of punishment as a deterrant and thats not working. As drug use accounts for the majority of inmates in some fashion, treatment and job training should be mandatory. Maybe more expensive in the short term but would save us in the long term. I’ve heard some pilot programs are doing very well with recidivism rates.
Prison is always much better than jail. Jails are crowded, people coming and going daily, have few if any ammenities, poor access to medical, detox (which is needed by a very large percentage of inmates) exercise, very bad food etc.
Lots of references to incarceration being “punative”. In fact the concept of incarceration is supposed to be “rehabilitative”. Although that does vary state to state, The worse jail and prison become, the worse (and frequently more violent and unstable) the inmate becomes. They leave that environment and and move to a neighborhood near you. Beating people into compliance does not usually work.
To B. L. Zebub: It would seem that jail would be preferable to prison, but apparently not in Lewis County. I’ve never had the “privilege” of spending time in any jail, but from what I have read and am told – Lewis County is supposedly the worst of the worst. Consequently, most local criminals would prefer to do thier time in an actual prison. Go figure. To me, this means the the Lewis County jail is doing what it’s supposed to do. If it was “fun” then there would be no punitive aspect to being there and people wouldn’t think twice about commiting crimes.
I thought marijuana offenses were going to be a lower priority now. It would be nice, instead of going after growers who sell to dispensaries, they could get more methheads off the streets.
Just a guess here, but I doubt any of the many car prowls and burglaries happening in Lewis County are done by people desperate to get money to go to a dispensary to get a little pot (which last time I checked was legal).
Ok, maybe I’m being thick but this is the 2nd case I’ve seen recently where the defendent agreed/asked for a longer sentence so they could serve time in the state pen instead of here in jail… I see why this would help Lewis county, but is there any benefit to the convict?
Seems like jail would be preferable to prison. Am I missing something?
That’s all they got? The justice system is broken!
And learn to like Pork sammiches
Harold and Kumar Go To Prison……