A husband and wife who were convicted of a large-scale marijuana grow operation at their Thornton home cannot take advantage of the legal provision that exempts some drug offenders from mandatory minimum sentences, the federal appeals court based in Denver ruled last month.
Huosheng Xian and Youlian Zhong, who arrived in the U.S. from China in 2016, are serving 10-year sentences after police discovered 1,500 cannabis plants and more than 50 pounds of processed marijuana at their Glencoe Street home. A jury convicted them on three counts of manufacturing or possessing marijuana with an intent to distribute.
Federal law, however, provides a “safety valve” for certain defendants convicted of drug offenses that permits judges to impose sentences below the mandatory minimum. There are multiple factors — including lack of criminal history — and prosecutors agreed Xian and Zhong fit most of the criteria. The government only contested whether the couple, by the time of sentencing, “truthfully provided to the Government all information and evidence the defendant has concerning the offense.”
In a pair of March 12 decisions, one for each defendant, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit agreed the couple had not, in fact, acknowledged they intentionally engaged in an illegal marijuana scheme.
“Zhong admitted to knowing there was suspicious and illegal activity in her home involving marijuana. She even admitted to knowing that her role, living in the house, would in…