Marijuana: Marc Emery Associates Plead Guilty in Seattle, Face Canadian Probation
After striking a deal with federal prosecutors, two employees of erstwhile Vancouver pot seed entrepreneur, continuing marijuana legalization activist and Cannabis Culture magazine publisher Marc Emery pleaded guilty in federal court in Seattle last Friday to conspiracy to manufacture marijuana. They will be formally sentenced June 17, according to a press release from the US Attorney's Office for Western Washington in Seattle.
[inline:princeofpot.jpg align=left caption="Marc and Jodie Emery (from cannabisculture.com)"]Along with Emery, employees Michelle Rainey and Gregory Williams became known as the BC 3 after they were indicted by a federal grand jury in Seattle on marijuana distribution charges because of Emery's seed sales enterprise. Authorities in Canada, where marijuana seed distribution is of ambiguous legal status, knew of Emery's business for years, but failed to act harshly against him or his employees.
Rainey and Williams accepted the guilty pleas on the condition that they be sentenced to two years probation to be served in Canada. Both defense attorneys and prosecutors will recommend that sentence. The judge is not bound to agree to that sentence, but the plea agreement stipulates that either party can call off the deal if the judge does not agree to that sentence.
According to court documents, Rainey filled mail orders for seeds, 75% of which were destined for customers in the US. Williams handled phone orders and walk-in customers. He confirmed Emery's claims that the company was grossing more than $3 million a year in seed sales.
Emery ploughed much of his profits back into the marijuana legalization movement and is known as the Prince of Pot for his loudly held positions. US DEA administrator Karen Tandy crowed at the time of his 2005 indictment that his arrest had dealt a blow to legalization forces, but prosecutors later claimed no political motivation for the bust of one of the drug war's loudest critics.
Rainey and Williams will be formally sentenced June 17. Emery's fate remains unclear. He continues to fight extradition from Canada, and a hearing in the British Columbia Supreme Court is set for the first week of June.
Comments
And now would be an even be a better time to
bring up the horrendous costs that have been expended in pursuing this unconscionable witch-hunt of a DrugWar.
Emery is a Canadian citizen who did everything above the table. Let the Canucks handle this; we've got a full-on fiscal meltdown taking place in this country, and will soon have to decide just who stays in the 'Big House' and who is allowed to quietly walk, because the gravy days of locking up minor offenders to please 'culture warriors' are well past us. 'Da money jes' ain't there, no more'.
And to claim that there were no sociopolitical aspects to this gross miscarriage of justice is patently laughable; Tandy, who pursued Emery like that police inspector in Les Miserables, had the same kind of mindset, and made it quite plan that she was doing it in large part because of Emery's 'loud criticism' of the American-sired DrugWar...and it's proponents. They thought that under the Bush Regime, whose "Justice' department was flush with religious fanatics itching to get back at those they deemed to be moral reprobates, they'd have their chance, and they attacked. And the American people have paid who knows how many millions of dollars into this effort that we now fervently wish we had to spend for better purposes than somebody's culture war vendetta.
Now that the financial chickens have come home to roost, I'd bet Uncle Sam wished the he had the tax revenues that Canada received from Emery's seed sales. Uncle should just cut his losses in this and bug out; the country has much bigger problems to worry about than a somewhat eccentric social activist...that we can't afford to lock up, anyways.
how much did this bogus persicution cost us taxpayers
I'm wondering if they eclpised the 12 million dollars the DEA spent to force Tommy Chong to cop a plea to keep his family out of jail. I'm sure the US Government spent years and millions of dollars to gather information on mr. Emery and his employees and in coercing the Canadian Government to extradite him for prosecution.
Death Blow To Legalization Movement
Oh, Karen. Have you looked outside lately? Your "death blow" didn't even phase the movement. You were, and still are, a "laughing stock." All you succeeded in doing was waste a lot of taxpayer's dollars.
In reply to Death Blow To Legalization Movement by Anonymous (not verified)
Neandertandy
For all our reason and civilization too many act out their tribal tendencies and often wander into tyrannical territory. People like Tandy can't stand criticism, wants their truths to be absolute and will disregard the moral values of equal treatment for equal people if they feel their beliefs are threatened.
I sure wish there were more scientific morals than, well, that other moral thing ...
Obama the Hypocrite Stoner
Obama admits he smoked lots of weed when he was younger. But now he's sold out to the DEA and thinks legalization for adults is "a bad idea".
Gotta keep the "folks" in the prison-industrial complex alive and well.
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