Lee Murray Ferryman, 45, of Vancouver, Washington was sentenced to five years in prison plus four years of supervised release for manufacturing marijuana and possessing a firearm in connection with a drug crime.[1] Judge Ronald B. Leighton imposed the mandatory minimum term on 18 February 2005, noting Ferryman kept weapons at home in connection with a marijuana growing operation.[1]
On 24 October 2003, officers of the Clark-Skamania drug task force, the state patrol and local SWAT teams executed a search warrant at Ferryman’s home and found a 170-plant grow in the basement.[1][2] The search also turned up 875 grams of marijuana packaged in baggies and 1,200 grams of dried leaves, alongside eleven firearms ranging from Glock and Ruger handguns to shotguns and rifles, several of them loaded.[1][2] The task force returned in February 2004 and seized more guns and packaged marijuana.[1]
Ferryman pleaded guilty and then appealed the finding that made him ineligible for safety-valve relief from the mandatory minimum, arguing he kept the guns to protect his family.[2] The Ninth Circuit affirmed in April 2006, holding the district court had not clearly erred in finding the eleven firearms were possessed in connection with the drug offence.[2]
