Canada’s Prince of Pot, Marc Emery, lifelong activist, former Libertarian, now founder of the British Columbia Marijuana Party, was sentenced on Friday in Seattle, Washington, to five years in the U.S. prison system for conspiracy to manufacture marijuana.

As a result of a a plea deal that Emery had made with U.S. authorities, the five-year sentence included four years of supervised probation.  In his plea agreement, Emery admitted to operating a marijuana seed selling business and to selling seeds to customers in the United States through mail and telephone orders and in his retail store in Vancouver, British Columbia.

U.S. District Judge Ricardo S. Martinez told Emery, “There is no question your actions were illegal and criminal and your actions ensured that others broke the law and suffered the consequences.”

Although Emery will no doubt continue to be an activist for the legalization of marijuana, he admitted his methods may have been self-defeating.

In a letter to the court he stated, “It was my sincere belief that the prohibitions on cannabis are hurtful to U.S. and Canadian citizens and are contrary to the U.S. and Canadian constitutions. I was, however, overzealous and reckless in pursuing this belief, and acted arrogantly in violation of U.S. federal law. I regret not choosing other methods — legal ones — to achieve my goals of peaceful political reform.”

Perhaps Marc will move his base of operations to California when he gets out of prison. That state has recently been salivating over the potential revenue that could be funneled into state coffers by the legalization of marijuana.