Missouri brother and sister get 15 years each for growing 20 marijuana plants after judge gave them harshest possible sentence



Natalie, 36, and David, 34, DePriest had 12 mature plants and eight seedlings

They were accused of running a large-scale drug-dealing operation

They denied charges but hired a marijuana-activist attorney to fight the case



Prosecutor claims they turned down deal allowing them to serve 120 days



A brother and sister who were caught with 12 marijuana plants and eight seedlings inside their home have been jailed for a total of 30 years.

Natalie and David DePriest received the harshest sentence which can be given for marijuana growing in the state of Missouri, where the maximum punishment for manslaughter is also 15 years.



In 2011, a maintenance man entered the DePriests' home in the city of Farmington while they were out in order to fit a fire extinguisher and discovered what he thought was a pipe bomb on the kitchen counter.

Jailed: Natalie, 36, and David, 34, DePriest were sentenced to 15 years in prison after police discovered 20 marijuana plants in their Missouri home



He took pictures of the device with his phone before informing the police who went round to conduct a search.

Officers discovered the plants inside a bedroom closet along with three pounds of dried marijuana, a rifle which was a quarter inch shorter than the legal limit, two legally-held pistols and two bulletproof vests.

They also found ledgers understood to contain sales records totaling up to $8,000 a month. The 'pipe bomb' turned out to be harmless.

The siblings were accused of running a large drug-selling operation. David, 34, had one prior misdemeanor drug charge dating from from 1999 while Natalie, 36, had been charged with writing bad checks while she was out on bail.



Speaking from inside prison to the Huffington Post, Natalie, a former rep for Camel cigarettes, denied ever having sold any of the marijuana, insisting it was for personal use.

She said: 'If we had thousands of dollars in pot sales, it must be buried somewhere. Because I’ve never seen it.'



The pair hired attorney Dan Viets - one of Missouri's leading marijuana reform activists and head of the state's National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML) committee.

Initially they tried to fight the prosecution arguing that the police should not have entered their home without giving them notice or obtaining a warrant, but the motion was denied.

Having spent all their money they decided to plead guilty in the hope of receiving a more lenient sentence.

So in November last year they admitted growing more than 5 grams of marijuana and intending to distribute it. David also pleaded guilty to owning an illegal rifle.

The siblings denied running a large-scale drug dealing operation and insisted the marijuana was purely for personal use

However St. Francois County Prosecuting Attorney Jerrod Mahurin, had warned them that if they took their case to court, he would request the maximum sentences allowed.

Mr Mahurin claimed he had offered the DePriests' attorney Dan Viets a deal under which they woulf serve just 120 days in jail, before being released on three years of probation, but that he refused.

He told the Riverfront Times: 'There were multiple offers made that would have had them released in 120 days.

'But they felt that marijuana should not be illegal and will be legal soon, so they refused. I don't know if it will ever be legal in Missouri, but in this case I have to follow the law.'

Circuit Court Judge Kenneth Pratte sentenced them to 15 years on the cultivation charge and a further 15 years for intending to distribute, with the sentences to run concourrently.

David, an aspiring gunsmith, was handed an additional seven years for owning the illegal rifle.

Speaking at the hearing Judge Pratte said: 'The law is the law,' addding that he didn't 'care one bit' that most Americans believe pot should be legalized.