MADISON - A rural Argyle man who operated a marijuana growing business from the basement of his Meadow Brook Road residence was sentenced Wednesday in federal court to one year and one day in prison.
After five years in the business, Blake L. Schneider, 57, had expanded his growing operation in 2010 into a garage he financed with an $85,000 loan. However, a Crimestoppers tip altered authorities to the location they searched on Dec. 7, 2010.
According to an affidavit by Anthony Shessley, an inspector with the Illinois State Police:
The State Line Area Narcotics Team seized 206 plants and more than 119 vacuum-sealed quarter-ounce baggies of marijuana.
Schneider told authorities that he had smoked marijuana since high school, frequently five times a week. He began his growing operation with about 30 starter plants in 2005. He continued growing and selling marijuana to friends in Chicago for at least $100 per quarter ounce. His basement operation produced enough marijuana to fill about 60 quarter-ounce packages every six weeks.
He made eight or nine trips to Chicago annually, delivering up to 100 quarter-ounce packages each time, earning $5,000 to $6,000 per trip. He expanded his business in 2010 by having a garage built, and when authorities executed the December 2010 search warrant in the basement and the garage, they seized pot destined for about "70 commitments."
Schneider, a former employee of the Chicago Options Exchange, has been supported by a family trust since his arrest. He was indicted for manufacturing marijuana and pleaded guilty in August. He developed advanced cirrhosis of the liver and hepatitis C and was hospitalized in June for an esophageal hemorrhage, which doctors consider so serious that they placed his odds at 30 to 50 percent of not surviving the next hemorrhage.
District Judge Barbara Crabb factored Schneider's "significant medical condition" into the sentence she imposed.
"Your health condition is the price you pay (for your lifestyle)," she told him.
Crabb also said Schneider's crime is one she would expect someone much younger to be involved in and he "strikes" her as someone who is in an "arrested adolescent stage of development," and hasn't taken responsibility for himself.
Schneider faced a five-year mandatory minimum prison sentence due to the amount of pot authorities had seized, but his lack of prior convictions qualified him for a "safety valve" in sentencing guidelines that allowed Crabb to go below the minimum punishment.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Munish Sharda asked for a two-year sentence and Schneider's attorney, Patrick Cafferty, asked for an 18-month term, but Crabb went below each recommendation, acknowledging Schneider's medical condition and need for ongoing care.
The U.S. Attorney had sought forfeiture of Schneider's residence but he arranged to pay $120,000 instead.
Crabb ordered him to report to prison on March 1.
After five years in the business, Blake L. Schneider, 57, had expanded his growing operation in 2010 into a garage he financed with an $85,000 loan. However, a Crimestoppers tip altered authorities to the location they searched on Dec. 7, 2010.
According to an affidavit by Anthony Shessley, an inspector with the Illinois State Police:
The State Line Area Narcotics Team seized 206 plants and more than 119 vacuum-sealed quarter-ounce baggies of marijuana.
Schneider told authorities that he had smoked marijuana since high school, frequently five times a week. He began his growing operation with about 30 starter plants in 2005. He continued growing and selling marijuana to friends in Chicago for at least $100 per quarter ounce. His basement operation produced enough marijuana to fill about 60 quarter-ounce packages every six weeks.
He made eight or nine trips to Chicago annually, delivering up to 100 quarter-ounce packages each time, earning $5,000 to $6,000 per trip. He expanded his business in 2010 by having a garage built, and when authorities executed the December 2010 search warrant in the basement and the garage, they seized pot destined for about "70 commitments."
Schneider, a former employee of the Chicago Options Exchange, has been supported by a family trust since his arrest. He was indicted for manufacturing marijuana and pleaded guilty in August. He developed advanced cirrhosis of the liver and hepatitis C and was hospitalized in June for an esophageal hemorrhage, which doctors consider so serious that they placed his odds at 30 to 50 percent of not surviving the next hemorrhage.
District Judge Barbara Crabb factored Schneider's "significant medical condition" into the sentence she imposed.
"Your health condition is the price you pay (for your lifestyle)," she told him.
Crabb also said Schneider's crime is one she would expect someone much younger to be involved in and he "strikes" her as someone who is in an "arrested adolescent stage of development," and hasn't taken responsibility for himself.
Schneider faced a five-year mandatory minimum prison sentence due to the amount of pot authorities had seized, but his lack of prior convictions qualified him for a "safety valve" in sentencing guidelines that allowed Crabb to go below the minimum punishment.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Munish Sharda asked for a two-year sentence and Schneider's attorney, Patrick Cafferty, asked for an 18-month term, but Crabb went below each recommendation, acknowledging Schneider's medical condition and need for ongoing care.
The U.S. Attorney had sought forfeiture of Schneider's residence but he arranged to pay $120,000 instead.
Crabb ordered him to report to prison on March 1.