"After his arrest on pot charges in October, medical marijuana activist Steve McWilliams vowed to go to trial in federal court. He wanted the chance to argue he had a right to grow marijuana under California's Proposition 215, which allows ill people to grow pot. "

"McWilliams said yesterday he has given up that fight and will accept a plea agreement offered by prosecutors."

McWillians is going to plead to felony cultivation of 25 plants. He will admit that he grew the 25 plants growing in his front yard that the DEA uprooted.

"In my heart I wish we could go to court and say: 'Seat a jury. Let's have a fair trial,' " McWilliams said. "More than anything we wanted to tell a jury of our peers about our case. That simply can't happen now." If McWilliams, 48, had gone to trial and had been convicted of two felony charges, he would have faced five to 40 years in prison. "

Prosecutors will recommend no more than six months in prison. His lawyer says he may not serve any prison time. By our calculations under the Sentencing Guidelines, he could get no jail and 3 months of home detention. The good news is that the Government is allowing McWilliams to enter what is referred to as a "conditional guilty plea" whereby McWilliams retains the right to appeal the medical marijuana issue to the 9th Circuit.

Given the rulings in the Rosenthal case, this sounds like a win-win for McWilliams--except for the felony on his record --and having to stay on the straight and narrow while on probation.