A Madison couple convicted of growing marijuana in their East Side home were ordered Friday to spend six months in jail as part of a probation sentence.

Richard A. Braun, 63, and his wife, Barbara S. Braun, 61, each received two years of probation from Dane County Circuit Judge William Hanrahan, who said the couple chose a risky and illegal path by growing marijuana in the basement of their home in the tidy 1800 block of Rutledge Street.

Growing marijuana is not only illegal, he said, but can attract the wrong kind of attention from violent criminals.

"It is a shadowy world that you are a part of when you are engaged in this kind of activity," Hanrahan told the couple.

In a written statement, Richard Braun apologized to the court, the Madison Police Department and to the community.

"We will forever be ashamed of our decision to cultivate marijuana and produce and consume hashish," he wrote. "We know that we brought this shame upon ourselves and, in a sense, upon those people who provide us with moral support, and that has been very difficult to accept."

According to court documents, Richard Braun is now earning a living selling CDs as an Amazon.com merchandiser. Barbara Braun works in a bookstore.