Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
FROM LEFT, Travis Hussey, his attorney, James Bucknell, and prosecuter Nick Jacobs listen to Gogebic County Circuit Judge Michael Pope Tuesday during a sentencing hearing. Hussey was sentenced to time served and probation for a possession with intent to deliver marijuana charge.
By RICHARD JENKINS
Bessemer - An Ironwood man was sentenced to time served Tuesday in Gogebic County Circuit Court for the possession with intent to deliver marijuana, in part due to his lack of a previous criminal record.
Travis William Hussey, 44, was sentenced to 106 days in jail and 18 months probation for the charge. As he was also given 106 days credit for jail time previously served, Hussey won't serve additional jail time without violating his probation in some way.
Hussey pleaded guilty to the four-year felony in December as part of a plea agreement that had a possession of methamphetamine charge Hussey was also facing dismissed Tuesday. Hussey was charged following an October incident when he sold marijuana to someone without a valid medical marijuana card, Gogebic County Prosecutor Nick Jacobs told the Daily Globe following the hearing.
In arguing for time served, Hussey's attorney - James Bucknell - said the sentence adequately deterred residents from committing a similar crime in the future.
"(The time-served sentence) sends message to society that - even if you are a marijuana provider - if you sell to somebody that doesn't have a card, you're going to get punished," Bucknell said.
He did say society seems to be slowly moving towards legalizing the drug.
While Pope said Hussey had no criminal record, he said Hussey went beyond what the state's medical marijuana law allowed providers to do.
"Unfortunately, Mr. Hussey's actions in this case demonstrate why much of the public has a concern with medical marijuana - and that is, it will go beyond a medical purpose and become something of an abuse of the system to the extent that it will be just a drug dealing operation," Pope said, adding not only did Hussey provide marijuana to those without valid medical cards, but provided other drugs as well.
Hussey indicated Tuesday he planned to leave the medical marijuana industry and seek employment in some form of the digital marketing industry upon his release from jail.
Pope also suspended Hussey's drivers license, as required by law, for at least six months - although he will be able to get a restricted license after 30 days.
