Chris Lindsey, the former attorney for Montana Cannabis, also was indicted on Tuesday on conspiracy, marijuana manufacturing and firearm possession charges. He is not a plaintiff in the lawsuit.

Williams has been particularly outspoken in his criticism of the raids. He told the Associated Press last month that he expected to be arrested and that he planned to fight the charges instead of taking a plea deal like many other raided pot providers.

The plaintiffs in the lawsuit against the federal government say the heavy-handed governmental approach has countermanded the will of Montana voters who approved the state’s medical marijuana law in 2004 that allowed them to grow and produce the drug for medical consumption.

U.S. District Judge Donald Molloy dismissed their claims in January, ruling that state law does not shield medical marijuana providers from federal prosecution. He cited a 2005 U.S. Supreme Court decision that said the supremacy clause applies in medical marijuana cases.

The supremacy clause says that federal law prevails if there is any conflict between state and federal statutes.

The plaintiffs have appealed, and Livingston said the lawsuit is an important test of the division between federal and state laws regulating the use of marijuana.

“It demonstrates the clash between the government and the states which have made it legal,” Livingston said. “The government has just devastated the business, the industry and the caregivers in a seemingly senseless way.”

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