The case of a convicted felon who cultivated hundreds of marijuana plants under the guise of a medical marijuana caregiver was cited Friday by federal officials seeking to amend the state's medical marijuana law to allow for background checks and greater oversight.

U.S. Attorney Ed Kubo said the December indictment of Richard D. Velasco, a 49-year-old Big Island man who was arrested three times between 2004 and 2005 for cultivating more than 200 marijuana plants, is an example of the need for increased scrutiny of people applying to grow or use medical marijuana.

"Of particular concern to me is that approximately four months after his arrest for this drug-trafficking offense in December 2004, Mr. Velasco applied for and was granted a caregiver certificate under the Hawai'i medical marijuana law. No background checks, criminal or otherwise, were conducted in order to review the worthiness or propriety of providing anyone with a certificate to become a caregiver in Hawai'i," said Kubo. "As I understand the law, even though he (Velasco) has been convicted on two state drug-trafficking offenses, there is nothing which will prevent him from re-applying for and obtaining another caregiver's certificate to dispense marijuana. There needs to be adequate procedures in place to allow for background checks, inspections, monitoring and reviews so that this law is not a farce."

The state law should be amended to permit for policing, oversight, criminal and other background checks and random inspections of caregivers, he said. Criminals with drug or felony convictions should be prohibited from acting as medical marijuana caregivers.

"We're not interested in investigating the sick and the dying," said Anthony D. Williams, assistant special agent in charge of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration's Honolulu district office. "But we will continue to investigate and pursue anyone cultivating and distributing marijuana."

Hawai'i became the eighth state to allow marijuana use for medical purposes in 2000, and today there are 249 licensed caregivers in the state and 2,609 medical marijuana patients.

In 2006, following five years of rapid growth in the number of patients certified to use marijuana for medical purposes, enrollment in the state registry dropped sharply for the first time since medical marijuana was legalized.

The number of people registered with the state and certified by a doctor to have debilitating conditions that qualify them to legally use marijuana dropped by almost 22 percent during the past 10 months, according to statistics supplied by the state Department of Public Safety.

Velasco, of Fern Acres, has five criminal convictions. He was arrested Jan. 16 and is in custody at the Federal Detention Center. His trial is set for March 20 in front of U.S. District Judge Susan Mollway.

He was indicted Dec. 21 on two counts of "knowingly and intentionally manufacturing marijuana, to wit: the cultivation of 100 or more marijuana plants," according to an indictment filed in U.S. District Court.

Because Velasco has a felony drug conviction, if convicted, he faces a mandatory minimum of 10 years in jail and up to life in prison, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.

In August 2004, Velasco was arrested after Hawai'i County police officers discovered 246 marijuana plants growing on his property. In December of that year, Velasco applied for and was given a medical marijuana caregiver certificate, allowing him to have up to three mature, flowering marijuana plants, four immature plants and an ounce of usable marijuana for each mature plant.

The certificate must be renewed each year and permits the holder to grow and cultivate marijuana for one patient.

In February 2005, Velasco was arrested again after officers found 612 marijuana plants, some as tall as seven feet high, growing on his property.

Seven months later, Velasco was arrested again after officers found him growing 222 marijuana plants.

Velasco was caregiver to an unidentified medical marijuana patient who elected to terminate his relationship with Velasco following his arrest.

"An individual like Mr. Velasco should never have the opportunity to grow marijuana," said Lawrence Mahuna, chief of the Hawai'i County Police Department. "I hope the state sees the need to fill the glaring gap in the law."

Reach Peter Boylan at pboylan@honoluluadvertiser.com.