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A pillar of his northern California community, Dave Harde was the very picture of an upstanding citizen. He kept a nice home with his wife and their two sons, and he also ran a natural foods store that he stocked daily with fresh salad greens from his own personal garden. In fact, Harde was an instrumental player in the formation of California's organic farming standards, and he brought this experience to his service on the county fair board. He cared about the environment enough to install solar-power cells to run his store, and he cared about sick people enough to use his agricultural skills to manage a small collective garden for local medical marijuana patients. When he was raided, the number of plants in his garden tipped just over the 100 mark, subjecting Harde to additional penalties at the hands of prosecutors. He ultimately accepted a plea deal in Sacramento federal court, troubled by the realization that this move would deprive him of his voting rights. In December 2006, Harde was sentenced to 30 months in prison and ordered to surrender shortly after the new year. |
David Oakley Harde
