CULLMAN, Alabama – The $1 million bond for a Cullman County medical marijuana advocate charged with trafficking marijuana has been dramatically slashed.

Cullman County District Judge Kim Chaney today reduced the bond to $40,000 for Christopher Butts, executive director of the Alabama Medical Marijuana Coalition.

The bond was reduced upon agreement with prosecutors, according to Chaney's order.

Butts has not yet posted bond and remains at the Cullman County Detention Center, according to a jail official.

Butts, along with three other people, was arrested on Dec. 28 and charged with trafficking marijuana. Also arrested were Stephen Franks, Sonja Franks and Amber Nixon. Nixon was also charged with possession of a controlled substance, which was a “small amount of heroin,” according to the Cullman County sheriff department’s arrest report.

According to the report, deputies located marijuana growing in an outdoor shed and a large amount of marijuana and drug paraphernalia inside the home at 144 County Road 821.

Butts' attorney, David Luker of Birmingham, asked for a bond reduction.

Stephen Franks was released from jail on his own recognizance the day after he was arrested, according to court records. Sonja Franks was released from jail on a $1 million bond on Jan. 10.

And on Jan. 23, Nixon’s $1.5 million bond was reduced by Chaney to $5,500. The judge cited that Nixon “failed to have required initial hearing” in the order reducing the bond. Court records indicate, however, that Nixon remains in jail.