BUTTE -- The man facing felony charges for growing a large quantity of marijuana -- he claimed he was doing so for medicinal purposes -- died Tuesday.

Scott Day died at his home, his wife, Summer Sutton-Day told The Montana Standard. He was 34.

Day and Sutton-Day were facing charges of production, possession and intent to distribute dangerous drugs, all felonies. They have been out on bail since the initial charges were filed in March following a raid on their home north of Dillon in which law officers seized 96 marijuana plants.

Day and Sutton-Day have said the plants were needed to cope with a variety of medical ailments and that they were prescribed the marijuana by a doctor. Day suffered from muccopolysaccharidosis, a rare congenital disease that caused deformation of his body, severe pain and other problems.

Sutton-Day said the criminal charges they were facing were devastating to Day because he feared losing his eligibility for Medicaid, which she said covered the $40,000 in monthly medications needed.

"Any felony charges that he would have been convicted of would have ended his medical insurance and that would have ended his life," she said. "Nobody could pay for $40,000 a month.

She said over the past few months Day's health had severely deteriorated because of the stress and anxiety. Day had a severe panic attack on the morning that he died, she said.

"He couldn't function on days," she said. "He didn't want to get out of bed; he didn't want to face the world."

Day's death brought harsh comments from Tom Daubert, director of pro medical marijuana group Patients and Families United in Helena. He called the prosecution of Day "a functional death sentence" and a "witch hunt straight out of the Dark Ages" because of the stress it caused.

He said Day had a strong case and the entire prosecution was done at the expense of public coffers.

"Taxpayers deserve to know what they're spending in the taxpayers' name to cause so much pain to a gentle, kind man like Scott Day," Daubert said. "He would have been found not guilty and I would have hoped that they would have had both the compassion and brains to figure that out."

But Beaverhead County Attorney Jed Fitch defended the way he has handled the Day's case. He said the case caused him "a lot of heartburn" because of Day's poor health, yet there was evidence the law had been broken.

"He was definitely sick and I agreed that if anybody should get the medical marijuana status, Scott Day should," Fitch said. "But he didn't even apply for the marijuana registry card until after the bust was made at his house."

Fitch added there is no case law about Montana's medical marijuana law because it's only three years old. He said he has received numerous harsh e-mails about the case, which he took over after being appointed county attorney this year.

Now Daubert and other advocates are calling for the charges against Sutton-Day to be dropped.

Fitch said he hasn't made a decision on whether to move forward with the prosecution of the case.

Funeral arrangements for Day are pending.