DAVENPORT, Iowa (AP) — A judge gave probation rather than a prison sentence Tuesday to a dying Iowa man who was convicted of growing marijuana that he said he used to treat his terminal cancer.

The sentence was a break for 48-year-old Benton Mackenzie, who could have faced three or more years in prison.

Mackenzie was convicted on drug charges stemming from a 2013 raid at his parents’ Long Grove, Iowa, home, where he lived. Sheriff’s deputies found 71 marijuana plant and growing equipment.

Mackenzie said he grew the plants to obtain cannabis oil that he used to treat his angiosarcoma.

The prosecution outraged advocates of medical marijuana.