Supporters pack courtroom as Theodosia couple sentenced for illegal ginseng operation

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Federal prosecutors wanted Kermit and Sandy Schofield to spend a year in prison.

The Theodosia couple pleaded guilty in December to running an illegal ginseng operation.

Even though Kermit, 77, and Sandy, 73, cooperated with investigators and apologized for their actions, prosecutors wanted to send a message to others.

Sandy Schofield said the idea of being away from her husband of 58 years was unthinkable.

"That was my greatest dread, being away from him," Sandy Schofield said. "He couldn't make it without me."

At a sentencing hearing Tuesday in Springfield, Judge Brian Wimes gave the Schofields the decision they wanted — one year of probation with no jail time.

"I just thank God," Sandy Schofield said.

Theodosia, where the Schofields run a farm and sell herbs, is a town of about 250 people near the Missouri-Arkansas border. About a fifth of the town's population packed Judge Wimes's courtroom in Springfield on Tuesday for the sentencing hearing.

There were no empty seats.

Sandy Schofield called the support "overwhelming."

Both Sandy and Kermit Schofield thanked the supporters for making the trip up to Springfield and apologized to the children who look up to them.

"The good book says you are known by the fruit you bear," Kermit Schofield said. "We bore good fruit."

Between June 2013 and August 2015, federal prosecutors say, the Schofields illegally purchased more than 100 pounds of ginseng for their business from sources in Arkansas.

Prosecutors say the Schofields made the purchases outside the permitted time frame for purchasing ginseng in Missouri, and they knew it was illegal to purchase ginseng that was transported out of Arkansas without a state certification.

Some believe consuming ginseng can lead to myriad health benefits, like boosting energy, reducing stress and lowering cholesterol levels.

Dried ginseng root can be pricey.

The Schofields paid almost $23,000 for 57 pounds of ginseng in the summer of 2015, according to prosecutors.

When federal authorities searched the Schofield home during their investigation, prosecutors say, they found 118 pounds of illegally obtained dried ginseng. That product was turned over to the government.

The Arkansas State Plant Board regulates the harvesting, sale and exportation of wild American ginseng, and a valid certificate must be obtained to take ginseng out of Arkansas.

Missouri also has laws regarding the harvesting and sale of ginseng.

As part of the sentence, the Schofields agreed to pay $65,000 in restitution and a $5,000 fine.

They brought checks with them to the sentencing hearing.

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Judge Wimes acknowledged the ginseng crimes were on the low end of the seriousness scale and said the felony convictions served as enough punishment for the Schofields.

Attorney Megan McCullough, who represented the Schofields, said the idea of two people in their 70s with no prior criminal activity going to prison on a ginseng charge would have been "almost unheard of."

"I think it's clear that incarceration, for a day, is greater than necessary," McCullough told the judge during Tuesday's hearing.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Casey Clark cited two reasons in asking for the 12-month prison sentence — the nature of the conduct and to deter others from committing the same crime.

The convictions carried possible five-year prison sentences.

More: Ginseng operation lands southwest Missouri couple in federal court