Sentencing postponed for Modesto men in medical marijuana case

Scarmazzo, Montes are on hunger strike

By John Ellis
The Fresno Bee

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FRESNO - Today's scheduled sentencing for two Modesto men convicted on federal drug charges for operating a medical marijuana dispensary was postponed until Friday because one of the defense attorneys is finishing up another trial.

Luke Scarmazzo and Ricardo Ruiz Montes, both 28, were convicted in May of manufacturing marijuana and distributing the drug, as well as operating a continuing criminal enterprise. The two men operated a medical marijuana dispensary known as the California Healthcare Collective that was raided by law enforcement officials in September 2006.

Their sentencing was scheduled for 2 p.m. this afternoon in U.S. District Court in Fresno. But Fresno attorney Anthony Capozzi, who is representing Scarmazzo, is delivering closing arguments in another trial in Fresno County Superior Court and asked for the postponement.

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The sentencing for the two men has been delayed multiple times for various reasons.

Scarmazzo and Montes each face a mandatory 20-year minimum prison term as a result of the continuing criminal enterprise conviction. There is also the possibility of life behind bars.

Both men are being held in the Fresno County Jail, where they have been on a hunger strike for the past week"�to protest our excessively harsh sentence, the injustice of our confinement as political prisoners, and the conditions in which we are being held," according to a letter from both men provided to The Bee by DeVina Scarmazzo, who is Luke Scarmazzo's wife.

DeVina Scarmazzo said in an interview Monday that the hunger strike will continue until the sentencing.