In front of a federal judge on Wednesday for sentence, a man who mailed thousands of pounds of marijuana across the nation and inherited his father’s shipping company from Medford apologized.
Matthew Sachen told U.S. District Judge Michael J. McShane, “I felt an absolute duty to take care of everything that he left behind, and clearly it was more of a mess than I anticipated having to clean up.”
According to Sachen’ defense attorney, his client was not aware that his father had been transporting marijuana for clients, yet he persisted in doing so.
“It’s regrettable that I ended up in that situation,” Sachen continued. I accept full responsibility. I had the impression that I was having a nightmare.
Sachen, 30, entered a guilty plea in June to the crime of using interstate infrastructure to support or enable a racketeering operation.
While Sachen’s attorney, Justin N. Rosas, advocated for the least severe penalties possible, Assistant U.S. Attorney John Brassell requested a sentence of three years of federal probation. Rosas stated that since selling his father’s business and pursuing his goal of becoming a firefighter paramedic, Sachen has been working to assist people every day as a wildland fire paramedic.
The judge seemed to be on the defense’s side.
Since Sachen has no criminal history, McShane questioned whether the U.S. Attorney’s Office had thought of a diversion program as an alternative to get a felony conviction off his record.
McShane provided the government with an option, describing the offense as the definition of circumstance:
If the government decides to either reduce the conviction to a misdemeanor at the end of the probationary year or explore a diversion program for Sachen, he will place Sachen on probation for a year.
If not, the judge said that he would terminate the case with Sachen’ criminal conviction but not impose any additional sanctions or oversight—basically, a sentence of discharge.
“I don’t want to waste probationary time interacting with someone who doesn’t have a criminal mindset,” McShane stated. He is not your normal federal court client. I understand that when he ended up in the center of a marijuana business he inherited, he made a really foolish error. However, he sold the company and left it.
The judge has given the U.S. Attorney’s Office one week to reply.
After his father passed away in late 2021, Sachen told investigators he took over the ProPack & Ship company and carried on his father’s legacy.
The prosecution said he made up names for customers to avoid being identified by law enforcement, stashed the money he made, and packaged the marijuana to evade discovery.
In March 2022, an undercover investigator brought 16 pounds of marijuana to the establishment and requested that it be delivered out of state. Sachen told his customer how to use special containers to cover up the pot’s odor before shipping it to its destination out of state, Brassell said.
Sachen assisted in taping up the box for sending when the undercover investigator returned the following month with another cargo.
Sachen requested leniency from the judge in a letter.
He had no idea how to manage the company when he inherited it following his father’s untimely death. In the letter, he said that it took him a long time to realize that people had been sending marijuana.
Sachen wrote, “I acknowledge with full responsibility that I took part in it, possibly with deception and pretense, as if it were a bad dream.” I obviously broke the law and made a mistake that would change my life.
Sachen wants to be a firefighter and has finished firefighting schools at Rogue Community College.
The prosecutor and defense attorney claim that even though Sachen was caught in the act, his involvement was brief since, within months of acquiring the company and prior to his arrest, he negotiated its sale to a nearby marijuana producer.
However, the company was already under investigation by federal Drug Enforcement Administration officials.
The judge said that his own husband, who is currently doing well as an oncology nurse, had a drug felony years prior and had to overcome it to attend nursing school.
McShane stated that “you can overcome this stuff with who you are, and with strong advocates,” but he also added that a criminal conviction will undoubtedly prevent Sachen from working in some positions.
“I hope you can move past this without having to deal with a felony,” he said.
However, the judge warned Sachen not to get ahead of himself, pointing out that his proposed remedy would be an extraordinary one.
Before a formal sentence is filed, the U.S. Attorney’s Office has until next Wednesday to respond.
— Maxine Bernstein writes about criminal justice and federal courts. You may contact her at [email protected], 503-221-8212, or follow her on LinkedIn or X@maxoregonian.
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