Markwart faces $10,000 fine

Tyler J. Markwart, the former WSU student who was convicted by a jury last December of drug charges related to a grow operation at a Pullman apartment, was sentenced to six months in jail Friday and ordered to pay a $10,000 fine.

Markwart faced up to a year in the jail here under the state’s standard range format, but Judge David Frazier said he didn’t see much point in putting Markwart in jail for a year as deterrent or for public safety.

Markwart had contended he was operating the grow under the state’s medical marijuana provision, but Judge Frazier said he was convinced by the evidence which was presented to the jury that Markwart took advantage of the new law to operate a business in order to make money. That led him to add a $10,000 fine to Markwart’s sentence, the judge said.

Markwart was convicted of three counts of delivery of marijuana, one count of possession and one count of manufacturing marijuana.

The judge put aside a jury verdict that Markwart was in possession of a gun while committing the drug crimes. Spokane Attorney Doug Phelps argued the circumstances in the case fell short of earlier court rulings which said the gun possession finding can only be valid if the suspect, crime and gun could be related at the time of arrest. Markwart, he pointed out, was not arrested at the apartment where drug agents later discovered the marijuana grow operation and the gun in an adjoining bedroom.

The judge allowed a defense motion to stay the sentence while Markwart files an appeal. However, he ordered Markwart to put up a performance bond to insure the $10,000 fine plus another $800 in costs and fees get paid in the event the appeal fails.