Sunday, January 25, 2009
Undercover agents take drugs, entrapment
Peter McCarthy sported a near-bald head, a scraggly goatee, a sleeveless tank top and cargo shorts.
His partner, a bearded Mark Gomez, wore a ball cap and black hair that rested on his shoulders. His vocabulary was heavily peppered with obscenities.
In September 2007, the two opened a tattoo parlor in a strip mall squeezed between the Strip and Interstate 15, its parking lot littered with trash and beer bottles, with strip clubs nearby.
To a handful of Las Vegas gangbangers, the duo was rough, tough and cool. They drank beer, smoked pot, snorted methamphetamine and were willing to buy drugs and weapons.
To the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Gomez and McCarthy were undercover agents, actors starring in a "street theater" operation designed to nail Las Vegas' most despicable thugs.
To defense attorneys, the two are the primary ingredients in what they claim was a badly botched sting operation, an investigation laden with outrageous behavior by the agents.
"The circumstances surrounding the entrapment of the defendants in this case clearly indicate that the allegations herein were nothing more than the brainchild of a hazy-minded ATF agent," defense attorney Lisa Rasmussen opined in a court motion.
Hazy-minded because attorneys representing six defendants fooled by the agents' act claim McCarthy was caught on the government's surveillance video smoking dope and sniffing methamphetamine.
Alleged drug use by federal agents is the primary basis for a motion to dismiss a 2008 indictment. But U.S. Magistrate Judge George Foley will have to ponder other reasons before deciding whether the case is worthy of being heard by a jury.
During nearly three months of hearings on the claims, Assistant U.S. Attorney Kathleen Bliss has consistently protested the defense's allegations.
"This government outrageous conduct claim is bogus," Bliss said.
SETTING UP SHOP
In early 2007, Gomez visited a Las Vegas tattoo parlor and learned that an artist purchased weapons. He noted the number of gang members hanging around the store.
"That gave me the idea," Gomez said during an evidentiary hearing earlier this month.
Gomez and McCarthy opened Hustler's Tattoo in September of that year and dubbed their operation "Sin City Ink." McCarthy took on the role of shop owner, Gomez that of an employee.
"I was Agent McCarthy's underling," Gomez said. "They (the defendants) believed we were part of some big criminal ring."
Cameras and recording devices were installed in the shop's back office, where most drug and weapons deals took place, and above the bays where tattoo artists inked their customers.
The two brought confidential informants on board: first, a tattoo artist named Jaime Pedraza who introduced them to potential buyers and sellers of drugs and weapons, and second, Richard Beckworth.
"Beckworth was a tattoo artist who worked with Stranger," the gang moniker for defendant Christopher Sangalang, Gomez recently testified. "He just had kids. He was a member of a gang and wanted out of that lifestyle."
Beckworth introduced Sangalang to Gomez and McCarthy. Sangalang began working at Hustler's Tattoo on Highland Drive.
Gomez testified that he and Sangalang became friends. He helped Sangalang move, and the two often hung out together at strip clubs.
But Sangalang did not trust Pedraza, and his suspicions had the potential to hurt the investigation.
"He didn't trust him -- 'This guy's dirty; he's an informant,'" Gomez said, referring to Sangalang's comments about Pedraza. "We had to tell him he's not an informant, he (Sangalang) is just being paranoid."
Soon, Deandre Patton and Alfredo Flores, both friends of Sangalang's, started spending time at the tattoo parlor, playing pool and drinking beer.
Gomez testified their strategy to befriend the targeted violent criminals worked.
"We developed a level of trust with these guys," Gomez testified. "We developed a personal relationship."
The agents' ultimate goal was to persuade gang members to hit a drug stash house and a home where the drug proceeds were hidden. The homes didn't really exist, and the planned raid was a setup.
On May 15, the day of the "home invasions," three others showed up for the hit: Roderick Jones, Derek Jones and Robert Williams.
All six arrived at the tattoo shop packing weapons and dressed in police uniforms, badges included. It was unclear where the uniforms and badges came from. No one has explored that question in court.
The six were arrested that afternoon after a convoy of vehicles drove to a Main Street warehouse where the agents said more weapons were said to be stashed.
On Friday, Roderick Jones pleaded guilty to conspiring to rob the fake stash house. He and the government agreed to a 60-month sentence.
In the end, the agents branded the 15-month-long operation to nab violent gangbangers a success.
Defense attorneys labeled it entrapment.
VIDEO PROBLEMS
Federal agents said they captured video and audio of Sangalang speaking about the planned home invasion.
"'If you rob somebody for a certain amount of dope, you gotta kill them," Gomez quoted Sangalang as saying.
Nowhere to be found on video or audiotapes is a federal agent threatening to kill Sangalang's family if he refused to participate in the drug house hit.
Defense attorney Shari Kaufman said the conversation occurred in the tattoo parlor, but it was not on recordings turned over to the defense team.
"In this case, the agents made threats to the defendants, and the defendants will make a proffer to the court regarding the same," the attorneys wrote to the judge, according to court records.
Although there was a streaming video with images and audio captured on three DVDs, the agents only kept clips they believed included evidence against the alleged criminals. They tossed what they believed to be irrelevant.
Allen Lichtenstein, attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union of Nevada, said it is inexcusable not to keep and turn over every second of footage taken to allow the defense to determine what is relevant to the investigation.
"The idea that they (the agents) can pick and choose ... and not turn videotape over to the defense, on the theory of what would be good for the defense and what isn't good for the defense, is outrageous," Lichtenstein said.
Another point of contention between the defense and prosecutors is the quality of the video and audio and whether transcripts should be used as an aid to understand conversations.
Video equipment in the tattoo parlor office was placed near an air conditioning duct. When the air conditioner kicked on, conversations were difficult to understand. Other discussions were held in busy Las Vegas bars with booming music drowning out muffled voices.
Defense attorneys have questioned how anyone could have produced transcripts from the tapes.
Gomez said all the agents' recordings were delivered to a Las Vegas company that specializes in transcribing. When the tapes were returned, Gomez reviewed them and compared the transcripts to the tape. He acknowledged that he occasionally changed the transcript to fit what he believed was said on tape.
Defense attorneys Rasmussen and Kaufman argued that the judge, and ultimately the jury, should listen to the garbled tapes without the assistance of transcripts that might have been tailored to suit the government's allegations.
"We think we heard the N-word; the government said it was 'dude,'" Rasmussen said.
"There are some real differences in interpretations of what is being said," Kaufman told Judge Foley.
Gomez noted that at one point agents planned to tap the cell phones of the defendants, but a girlfriend of one of the defendants worked for Sprint and tipped them off.
"They ditched their phones and were more careful after that," Gomez said. "We're looking into the leak at the phone company. That's an ongoing investigation."
WIZARD WEED QUESTION
McCarthy said he never smoked pot, but instead used Wizard Weed, a substance agents sometimes use during undercover operations for "street theater," meaning they are acting the part of a junkie.
He smoked the substance that smells like pot to trick the defendants into believing he was a drug user.
Charles Fuller, executive director of the International Association of Undercover Officers, said he provided Wizard Weed to Gomez.
Fuller testified late last year that he bought Wizard Weed on the Internet and supplied it to agents. Foley ordered Fuller to produce receipts from his purchases, but as of early this month he had yet to do so.
McCarthy told defense attorneys during hearings last month that the use of illegal drugs is only acceptable if an agent believes his life is in danger if he declines. For example, if a suspect holds a gun to the agent's head. He said that wasn't the case in this operation.
Defense attorneys are suspicious of McCarthy's account of his use of Wizard Weed.
They pointed out that McCarthy said he had only a small amount of fake weed, but is frequently captured on tape smoking out of a pipe during the investigation that lasted one year and three months.
Attorneys questioned the agents' judgment when it came to their role-playing. Kaufman said McCarthy is seen on one tape drinking 11 beers during a four-hour period while in possession of a loaded weapon.
One of the agents' confidential informants also had troubles during the investigation. Beckworth was arrested in the armed robbery of a PT's Pub a few months after he became a paid informant. The crime was committed before he began working with the government, and he continued his role after his arrest.
"It was decided we would use him," Gomez said. "Before he was a paid informant; now he worked for the ATF to work off his charges."
District Court records show that Beckworth was sentenced to 24 months to 84 months jail in June 2008. He was released in August 2008.
CRIMINAL HISTORIES
At least four of the six defendants had been arrested previously, but only one was convicted, Gomez testified.
Derek Jones has a robbery conviction. Roderick Jones has been arrested for possession of a controlled substance. Williams was arrested, but never prosecuted, for felony possession of cocaine, and Sangalang was arrested on possession of a concealed weapon charges.
The question is whether the men would have robbed a stash house and killed any occupants on their own volition or whether the federal agents goaded them into planning such a crime.
"Entrapment is a fine line," Lichtenstein said. "The theory is to get people to commit a crime they would not have otherwise done. It's difficult to tell what someone would have done ordinarily."
Gomez said Sangalang had no qualms gathering a "crew" to raid the drug stash.
Gomez said Sangalang belonged to the 74 Hoover Crips, one of the largest, most violent gangs in Southern California. The agent likened the gang to al-Qaida because of its size and types of crimes it commits.
According to the government, Sangalang hatched a plan to kill the so-called drug dealers, toss cocaine around the house and burn down the home to make the invasion look like a robbery gone bad.
The government then approached Flores about the planned home invasion.
Agents decided to allow Flores to join the bogus house assault "based on his past bragging -- he bragged about his gang affiliations," Gomez said.
When they discussed the plan, Gomez said Flores responded, "We're going in for war." Gomez said Patton spoke of slicing the throats of the home's occupants or guards.
Although the defendants and agents piled into their vehicles and headed out to the staging area before the planned raid, it is unclear whether the suspects would have followed through with the crime.
ATF agents stormed the warehouse and arrested the men on charges related to distributing illegal drugs and possession of illegal weapons. Five of the men have remained in custody since May. Derek Jones is out of custody.
Contact reporter Adrienne Packer at apacker@reviewjournal.com or 702-384-8710.
Legalize marijuana and prostitution to cut the budget
of legalizing both prostitution and marijuana as a way to raise revenue and
shrink the state's current $41 billion deficit.
Both pot smoking and prostitution are very popular "sins" that, if legalized
and taxed, could generate millions or even billions in extra revenue for the
state, said David Lazarus, financial columnist for the Los Angeles Times.
The unconventional ideas to tax prostitutes and pot have become increasingly
plausible as the financial crisis looks more and more like the Great
Depression, Lazarus said.
Many of Lazarus's financial industry colleagues have praised the proposals,
though there is more support for the marijuana side than the prostitution
side.
The only way these ideas could ever come up for decision before voters is as
ballot measures. The idea as it applies to marijuana might pass by a slim
margin, Lazarus predicted, but the prostitution tax would likely be thrown
out.
shrink the state's current $41 billion deficit.
Both pot smoking and prostitution are very popular "sins" that, if legalized
and taxed, could generate millions or even billions in extra revenue for the
state, said David Lazarus, financial columnist for the Los Angeles Times.
The unconventional ideas to tax prostitutes and pot have become increasingly
plausible as the financial crisis looks more and more like the Great
Depression, Lazarus said.
Many of Lazarus's financial industry colleagues have praised the proposals,
though there is more support for the marijuana side than the prostitution
side.
The only way these ideas could ever come up for decision before voters is as
ballot measures. The idea as it applies to marijuana might pass by a slim
margin, Lazarus predicted, but the prostitution tax would likely be thrown
out.
Legalize marijuana and prostitution to cut the budget
of legalizing both prostitution and marijuana as a way to raise revenue and
shrink the state's current $41 billion deficit.
Both pot smoking and prostitution are very popular "sins" that, if legalized
and taxed, could generate millions or even billions in extra revenue for the
state, said David Lazarus, financial columnist for the Los Angeles Times.
The unconventional ideas to tax prostitutes and pot have become increasingly
plausible as the financial crisis looks more and more like the Great
Depression, Lazarus said.
Many of Lazarus's financial industry colleagues have praised the proposals,
though there is more support for the marijuana side than the prostitution
side.
The only way these ideas could ever come up for decision before voters is as
ballot measures. The idea as it applies to marijuana might pass by a slim
margin, Lazarus predicted, but the prostitution tax would likely be thrown
out.
shrink the state's current $41 billion deficit.
Both pot smoking and prostitution are very popular "sins" that, if legalized
and taxed, could generate millions or even billions in extra revenue for the
state, said David Lazarus, financial columnist for the Los Angeles Times.
The unconventional ideas to tax prostitutes and pot have become increasingly
plausible as the financial crisis looks more and more like the Great
Depression, Lazarus said.
Many of Lazarus's financial industry colleagues have praised the proposals,
though there is more support for the marijuana side than the prostitution
side.
The only way these ideas could ever come up for decision before voters is as
ballot measures. The idea as it applies to marijuana might pass by a slim
margin, Lazarus predicted, but the prostitution tax would likely be thrown
out.
Undercover agents smoke and take drugs
By ADRIENNE PACKER
LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL
Peter McCarthy sported a near-bald head, a scraggly goatee, a sleeveless tank top and cargo shorts.
His partner, a bearded Mark Gomez, wore a ball cap and black hair that rested on his shoulders. His vocabulary was heavily peppered with obscenities.
In September 2007, the two opened a tattoo parlor in a strip mall squeezed between the Strip and Interstate 15, its parking lot littered with trash and beer bottles, with strip clubs nearby.
To a handful of Las Vegas gangbangers, the duo was rough, tough and cool. They drank beer, smoked pot, snorted methamphetamine and were willing to buy drugs and weapons.
To the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Gomez and McCarthy were undercover agents, actors starring in a "street theater" operation designed to nail Las Vegas' most despicable thugs.
To defense attorneys, the two are the primary ingredients in what they claim was a badly botched sting operation, an investigation laden with outrageous behavior by the agents.
"The circumstances surrounding the entrapment of the defendants in this case clearly indicate that the allegations herein were nothing more than the brainchild of a hazy-minded ATF agent," defense attorney Lisa Rasmussen opined in a court motion.
Hazy-minded because attorneys representing six defendants fooled by the agents' act claim McCarthy was caught on the government's surveillance video smoking dope and sniffing methamphetamine.
Alleged drug use by federal agents is the primary basis for a motion to dismiss a 2008 indictment. But U.S. Magistrate Judge George Foley will have to ponder other reasons before deciding whether the case is worthy of being heard by a jury.
During nearly three months of hearings on the claims, Assistant U.S. Attorney Kathleen Bliss has consistently protested the defense's allegations.
"This government outrageous conduct claim is bogus," Bliss said.
SETTING UP SHOP
In early 2007, Gomez visited a Las Vegas tattoo parlor and learned that an artist purchased weapons. He noted the number of gang members hanging around the store.
"That gave me the idea," Gomez said during an evidentiary hearing earlier this month.
Gomez and McCarthy opened Hustler's Tattoo in September of that year and dubbed their operation "Sin City Ink." McCarthy took on the role of shop owner, Gomez that of an employee.
"I was Agent McCarthy's underling," Gomez said. "They (the defendants) believed we were part of some big criminal ring."
Cameras and recording devices were installed in the shop's back office, where most drug and weapons deals took place, and above the bays where tattoo artists inked their customers.
The two brought confidential informants on board: first, a tattoo artist named Jaime Pedraza who introduced them to potential buyers and sellers of drugs and weapons, and second, Richard Beckworth.
"Beckworth was a tattoo artist who worked with Stranger," the gang moniker for defendant Christopher Sangalang, Gomez recently testified. "He just had kids. He was a member of a gang and wanted out of that lifestyle."
Beckworth introduced Sangalang to Gomez and McCarthy. Sangalang began working at Hustler's Tattoo on Highland Drive.
Gomez testified that he and Sangalang became friends. He helped Sangalang move, and the two often hung out together at strip clubs.
But Sangalang did not trust Pedraza, and his suspicions had the potential to hurt the investigation.
"He didn't trust him -- 'This guy's dirty; he's an informant,'" Gomez said, referring to Sangalang's comments about Pedraza. "We had to tell him he's not an informant, he (Sangalang) is just being paranoid."
Soon, Deandre Patton and Alfredo Flores, both friends of Sangalang's, started spending time at the tattoo parlor, playing pool and drinking beer.
Gomez testified their strategy to befriend the targeted violent criminals worked.
"We developed a level of trust with these guys," Gomez testified. "We developed a personal relationship."
The agents' ultimate goal was to persuade gang members to hit a drug stash house and a home where the drug proceeds were hidden. The homes didn't really exist, and the planned raid was a setup.
On May 15, the day of the "home invasions," three others showed up for the hit: Roderick Jones, Derek Jones and Robert Williams.
All six arrived at the tattoo shop packing weapons and dressed in police uniforms, badges included. It was unclear where the uniforms and badges came from. No one has explored that question in court.
The six were arrested that afternoon after a convoy of vehicles drove to a Main Street warehouse where the agents said more weapons were said to be stashed.
On Friday, Roderick Jones pleaded guilty to conspiring to rob the fake stash house. He and the government agreed to a 60-month sentence.
In the end, the agents branded the 15-month-long operation to nab violent gangbangers a success.
Defense attorneys labeled it entrapment.
VIDEO PROBLEMS
Federal agents said they captured video and audio of Sangalang speaking about the planned home invasion.
"'If you rob somebody for a certain amount of dope, you gotta kill them," Gomez quoted Sangalang as saying.
Nowhere to be found on video or audiotapes is a federal agent threatening to kill Sangalang's family if he refused to participate in the drug house hit.
Defense attorney Shari Kaufman said the conversation occurred in the tattoo parlor, but it was not on recordings turned over to the defense team.
"In this case, the agents made threats to the defendants, and the defendants will make a proffer to the court regarding the same," the attorneys wrote to the judge, according to court records.
Although there was a streaming video with images and audio captured on three DVDs, the agents only kept clips they believed included evidence against the alleged criminals. They tossed what they believed to be irrelevant.
Allen Lichtenstein, attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union of Nevada, said it is inexcusable not to keep and turn over every second of footage taken to allow the defense to determine what is relevant to the investigation.
"The idea that they (the agents) can pick and choose ... and not turn videotape over to the defense, on the theory of what would be good for the defense and what isn't good for the defense, is outrageous," Lichtenstein said.
Another point of contention between the defense and prosecutors is the quality of the video and audio and whether transcripts should be used as an aid to understand conversations.
Video equipment in the tattoo parlor office was placed near an air conditioning duct. When the air conditioner kicked on, conversations were difficult to understand. Other discussions were held in busy Las Vegas bars with booming music drowning out muffled voices.
Defense attorneys have questioned how anyone could have produced transcripts from the tapes.
Gomez said all the agents' recordings were delivered to a Las Vegas company that specializes in transcribing. When the tapes were returned, Gomez reviewed them and compared the transcripts to the tape. He acknowledged that he occasionally changed the transcript to fit what he believed was said on tape.
Defense attorneys Rasmussen and Kaufman argued that the judge, and ultimately the jury, should listen to the garbled tapes without the assistance of transcripts that might have been tailored to suit the government's allegations.
"We think we heard the N-word; the government said it was 'dude,'" Rasmussen said.
"There are some real differences in interpretations of what is being said," Kaufman told Judge Foley.
Gomez noted that at one point agents planned to tap the cell phones of the defendants, but a girlfriend of one of the defendants worked for Sprint and tipped them off.
"They ditched their phones and were more careful after that," Gomez said. "We're looking into the leak at the phone company. That's an ongoing investigation."
WIZARD WEED QUESTION
McCarthy said he never smoked pot, but instead used Wizard Weed, a substance agents sometimes use during undercover operations for "street theater," meaning they are acting the part of a junkie.
He smoked the substance that smells like pot to trick the defendants into believing he was a drug user.
Charles Fuller, executive director of the International Association of Undercover Officers, said he provided Wizard Weed to Gomez.
Fuller testified late last year that he bought Wizard Weed on the Internet and supplied it to agents. Foley ordered Fuller to produce receipts from his purchases, but as of early this month he had yet to do so.
McCarthy told defense attorneys during hearings last month that the use of illegal drugs is only acceptable if an agent believes his life is in danger if he declines. For example, if a suspect holds a gun to the agent's head. He said that wasn't the case in this operation.
Defense attorneys are suspicious of McCarthy's account of his use of Wizard Weed.
They pointed out that McCarthy said he had only a small amount of fake weed, but is frequently captured on tape smoking out of a pipe during the investigation that lasted one year and three months.
Attorneys questioned the agents' judgment when it came to their role-playing. Kaufman said McCarthy is seen on one tape drinking 11 beers during a four-hour period while in possession of a loaded weapon.
One of the agents' confidential informants also had troubles during the investigation. Beckworth was arrested in the armed robbery of a PT's Pub a few months after he became a paid informant. The crime was committed before he began working with the government, and he continued his role after his arrest.
"It was decided we would use him," Gomez said. "Before he was a paid informant; now he worked for the ATF to work off his charges."
District Court records show that Beckworth was sentenced to 24 months to 84 months jail in June 2008. He was released in August 2008.
CRIMINAL HISTORIES
At least four of the six defendants had been arrested previously, but only one was convicted, Gomez testified.
Derek Jones has a robbery conviction. Roderick Jones has been arrested for possession of a controlled substance. Williams was arrested, but never prosecuted, for felony possession of cocaine, and Sangalang was arrested on possession of a concealed weapon charges.
The question is whether the men would have robbed a stash house and killed any occupants on their own volition or whether the federal agents goaded them into planning such a crime.
"Entrapment is a fine line," Lichtenstein said. "The theory is to get people to commit a crime they would not have otherwise done. It's difficult to tell what someone would have done ordinarily."
Gomez said Sangalang had no qualms gathering a "crew" to raid the drug stash.
Gomez said Sangalang belonged to the 74 Hoover Crips, one of the largest, most violent gangs in Southern California. The agent likened the gang to al-Qaida because of its size and types of crimes it commits.
According to the government, Sangalang hatched a plan to kill the so-called drug dealers, toss cocaine around the house and burn down the home to make the invasion look like a robbery gone bad.
The government then approached Flores about the planned home invasion.
Agents decided to allow Flores to join the bogus house assault "based on his past bragging -- he bragged about his gang affiliations," Gomez said.
When they discussed the plan, Gomez said Flores responded, "We're going in for war." Gomez said Patton spoke of slicing the throats of the home's occupants or guards.
Although the defendants and agents piled into their vehicles and headed out to the staging area before the planned raid, it is unclear whether the suspects would have followed through with the crime.
ATF agents stormed the warehouse and arrested the men on charges related to distributing illegal drugs and possession of illegal weapons. Five of the men have remained in custody since May. Derek Jones is out of custody.
Contact reporter Adrienne Packer at apacker@reviewjournal.com or 702-384-8710.
LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL
Peter McCarthy sported a near-bald head, a scraggly goatee, a sleeveless tank top and cargo shorts.
His partner, a bearded Mark Gomez, wore a ball cap and black hair that rested on his shoulders. His vocabulary was heavily peppered with obscenities.
In September 2007, the two opened a tattoo parlor in a strip mall squeezed between the Strip and Interstate 15, its parking lot littered with trash and beer bottles, with strip clubs nearby.
To a handful of Las Vegas gangbangers, the duo was rough, tough and cool. They drank beer, smoked pot, snorted methamphetamine and were willing to buy drugs and weapons.
To the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Gomez and McCarthy were undercover agents, actors starring in a "street theater" operation designed to nail Las Vegas' most despicable thugs.
To defense attorneys, the two are the primary ingredients in what they claim was a badly botched sting operation, an investigation laden with outrageous behavior by the agents.
"The circumstances surrounding the entrapment of the defendants in this case clearly indicate that the allegations herein were nothing more than the brainchild of a hazy-minded ATF agent," defense attorney Lisa Rasmussen opined in a court motion.
Hazy-minded because attorneys representing six defendants fooled by the agents' act claim McCarthy was caught on the government's surveillance video smoking dope and sniffing methamphetamine.
Alleged drug use by federal agents is the primary basis for a motion to dismiss a 2008 indictment. But U.S. Magistrate Judge George Foley will have to ponder other reasons before deciding whether the case is worthy of being heard by a jury.
During nearly three months of hearings on the claims, Assistant U.S. Attorney Kathleen Bliss has consistently protested the defense's allegations.
"This government outrageous conduct claim is bogus," Bliss said.
SETTING UP SHOP
In early 2007, Gomez visited a Las Vegas tattoo parlor and learned that an artist purchased weapons. He noted the number of gang members hanging around the store.
"That gave me the idea," Gomez said during an evidentiary hearing earlier this month.
Gomez and McCarthy opened Hustler's Tattoo in September of that year and dubbed their operation "Sin City Ink." McCarthy took on the role of shop owner, Gomez that of an employee.
"I was Agent McCarthy's underling," Gomez said. "They (the defendants) believed we were part of some big criminal ring."
Cameras and recording devices were installed in the shop's back office, where most drug and weapons deals took place, and above the bays where tattoo artists inked their customers.
The two brought confidential informants on board: first, a tattoo artist named Jaime Pedraza who introduced them to potential buyers and sellers of drugs and weapons, and second, Richard Beckworth.
"Beckworth was a tattoo artist who worked with Stranger," the gang moniker for defendant Christopher Sangalang, Gomez recently testified. "He just had kids. He was a member of a gang and wanted out of that lifestyle."
Beckworth introduced Sangalang to Gomez and McCarthy. Sangalang began working at Hustler's Tattoo on Highland Drive.
Gomez testified that he and Sangalang became friends. He helped Sangalang move, and the two often hung out together at strip clubs.
But Sangalang did not trust Pedraza, and his suspicions had the potential to hurt the investigation.
"He didn't trust him -- 'This guy's dirty; he's an informant,'" Gomez said, referring to Sangalang's comments about Pedraza. "We had to tell him he's not an informant, he (Sangalang) is just being paranoid."
Soon, Deandre Patton and Alfredo Flores, both friends of Sangalang's, started spending time at the tattoo parlor, playing pool and drinking beer.
Gomez testified their strategy to befriend the targeted violent criminals worked.
"We developed a level of trust with these guys," Gomez testified. "We developed a personal relationship."
The agents' ultimate goal was to persuade gang members to hit a drug stash house and a home where the drug proceeds were hidden. The homes didn't really exist, and the planned raid was a setup.
On May 15, the day of the "home invasions," three others showed up for the hit: Roderick Jones, Derek Jones and Robert Williams.
All six arrived at the tattoo shop packing weapons and dressed in police uniforms, badges included. It was unclear where the uniforms and badges came from. No one has explored that question in court.
The six were arrested that afternoon after a convoy of vehicles drove to a Main Street warehouse where the agents said more weapons were said to be stashed.
On Friday, Roderick Jones pleaded guilty to conspiring to rob the fake stash house. He and the government agreed to a 60-month sentence.
In the end, the agents branded the 15-month-long operation to nab violent gangbangers a success.
Defense attorneys labeled it entrapment.
VIDEO PROBLEMS
Federal agents said they captured video and audio of Sangalang speaking about the planned home invasion.
"'If you rob somebody for a certain amount of dope, you gotta kill them," Gomez quoted Sangalang as saying.
Nowhere to be found on video or audiotapes is a federal agent threatening to kill Sangalang's family if he refused to participate in the drug house hit.
Defense attorney Shari Kaufman said the conversation occurred in the tattoo parlor, but it was not on recordings turned over to the defense team.
"In this case, the agents made threats to the defendants, and the defendants will make a proffer to the court regarding the same," the attorneys wrote to the judge, according to court records.
Although there was a streaming video with images and audio captured on three DVDs, the agents only kept clips they believed included evidence against the alleged criminals. They tossed what they believed to be irrelevant.
Allen Lichtenstein, attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union of Nevada, said it is inexcusable not to keep and turn over every second of footage taken to allow the defense to determine what is relevant to the investigation.
"The idea that they (the agents) can pick and choose ... and not turn videotape over to the defense, on the theory of what would be good for the defense and what isn't good for the defense, is outrageous," Lichtenstein said.
Another point of contention between the defense and prosecutors is the quality of the video and audio and whether transcripts should be used as an aid to understand conversations.
Video equipment in the tattoo parlor office was placed near an air conditioning duct. When the air conditioner kicked on, conversations were difficult to understand. Other discussions were held in busy Las Vegas bars with booming music drowning out muffled voices.
Defense attorneys have questioned how anyone could have produced transcripts from the tapes.
Gomez said all the agents' recordings were delivered to a Las Vegas company that specializes in transcribing. When the tapes were returned, Gomez reviewed them and compared the transcripts to the tape. He acknowledged that he occasionally changed the transcript to fit what he believed was said on tape.
Defense attorneys Rasmussen and Kaufman argued that the judge, and ultimately the jury, should listen to the garbled tapes without the assistance of transcripts that might have been tailored to suit the government's allegations.
"We think we heard the N-word; the government said it was 'dude,'" Rasmussen said.
"There are some real differences in interpretations of what is being said," Kaufman told Judge Foley.
Gomez noted that at one point agents planned to tap the cell phones of the defendants, but a girlfriend of one of the defendants worked for Sprint and tipped them off.
"They ditched their phones and were more careful after that," Gomez said. "We're looking into the leak at the phone company. That's an ongoing investigation."
WIZARD WEED QUESTION
McCarthy said he never smoked pot, but instead used Wizard Weed, a substance agents sometimes use during undercover operations for "street theater," meaning they are acting the part of a junkie.
He smoked the substance that smells like pot to trick the defendants into believing he was a drug user.
Charles Fuller, executive director of the International Association of Undercover Officers, said he provided Wizard Weed to Gomez.
Fuller testified late last year that he bought Wizard Weed on the Internet and supplied it to agents. Foley ordered Fuller to produce receipts from his purchases, but as of early this month he had yet to do so.
McCarthy told defense attorneys during hearings last month that the use of illegal drugs is only acceptable if an agent believes his life is in danger if he declines. For example, if a suspect holds a gun to the agent's head. He said that wasn't the case in this operation.
Defense attorneys are suspicious of McCarthy's account of his use of Wizard Weed.
They pointed out that McCarthy said he had only a small amount of fake weed, but is frequently captured on tape smoking out of a pipe during the investigation that lasted one year and three months.
Attorneys questioned the agents' judgment when it came to their role-playing. Kaufman said McCarthy is seen on one tape drinking 11 beers during a four-hour period while in possession of a loaded weapon.
One of the agents' confidential informants also had troubles during the investigation. Beckworth was arrested in the armed robbery of a PT's Pub a few months after he became a paid informant. The crime was committed before he began working with the government, and he continued his role after his arrest.
"It was decided we would use him," Gomez said. "Before he was a paid informant; now he worked for the ATF to work off his charges."
District Court records show that Beckworth was sentenced to 24 months to 84 months jail in June 2008. He was released in August 2008.
CRIMINAL HISTORIES
At least four of the six defendants had been arrested previously, but only one was convicted, Gomez testified.
Derek Jones has a robbery conviction. Roderick Jones has been arrested for possession of a controlled substance. Williams was arrested, but never prosecuted, for felony possession of cocaine, and Sangalang was arrested on possession of a concealed weapon charges.
The question is whether the men would have robbed a stash house and killed any occupants on their own volition or whether the federal agents goaded them into planning such a crime.
"Entrapment is a fine line," Lichtenstein said. "The theory is to get people to commit a crime they would not have otherwise done. It's difficult to tell what someone would have done ordinarily."
Gomez said Sangalang had no qualms gathering a "crew" to raid the drug stash.
Gomez said Sangalang belonged to the 74 Hoover Crips, one of the largest, most violent gangs in Southern California. The agent likened the gang to al-Qaida because of its size and types of crimes it commits.
According to the government, Sangalang hatched a plan to kill the so-called drug dealers, toss cocaine around the house and burn down the home to make the invasion look like a robbery gone bad.
The government then approached Flores about the planned home invasion.
Agents decided to allow Flores to join the bogus house assault "based on his past bragging -- he bragged about his gang affiliations," Gomez said.
When they discussed the plan, Gomez said Flores responded, "We're going in for war." Gomez said Patton spoke of slicing the throats of the home's occupants or guards.
Although the defendants and agents piled into their vehicles and headed out to the staging area before the planned raid, it is unclear whether the suspects would have followed through with the crime.
ATF agents stormed the warehouse and arrested the men on charges related to distributing illegal drugs and possession of illegal weapons. Five of the men have remained in custody since May. Derek Jones is out of custody.
Contact reporter Adrienne Packer at apacker@reviewjournal.com or 702-384-8710.
Saturday, January 24, 2009
DEA raid in Tahoe
Friday, January 23, 2009
Adam Jensen / Tahoe Daily Tribune
SOUTH LAKE TAHOE — Federal agents raided a medical marijuana dispensary in South Lake Tahoe on Thursday.
At about 11 a.m., five agents from the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency — joined by members of the Bureau of Narcotic Enforcement, the South Lake Tahoe-El Dorado County Narcotics Enforcement Team and the South Lake Tahoe Police — served a federal search warrant on Patient to Patient Collective, located at 2314 Lake Tahoe Boulevard.
Agents seized between five and 10 pounds of processed marijuana and a "small amount" of U.S. currency from the collective, said DEA Special Agent Gordon Taylor.
Police made no arrests on Thursday.
Taylor declined to comment on additional details of the raid, saying Patient to Patient Collective is part of an ongoing investigation.
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Neglicted Source of Revenue for Californai
F. Aaron Smith
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Only if you lived in a cave could you avoid news about California's dire financial situation. The governor and legislators still disagree about what to do, but all of the proposals aimed at closing the state's $42 billion budget gap are painful and politically unpopular. One obvious way to take a big chunk out of the deficit - without closing schools or putting the sick and elderly out on the streets - hasn't even been discussed. Tax marijuana.
New sin taxes are likely going to be part of the solution to our financial woes. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger proposed a nickel-per-drink alcohol tax increase last year. More recently, Assemblyman Tom Torlakson, D-Antioch, introduced legislation to tack on an additional $2.10 per pack in cigarette taxes. Yet marijuana, California's largest cash crop, is completely untaxed.
The marijuana crop is valued at $13.8 billion annually - nearly double the value of our vegetable and grape crops combined. Our state is the nation's top marijuana producer. Indeed, the average annual value of our marijuana crop is more than the combined value of wheat and cotton produced in the entire United States.
According to government surveys, 14.5 million Americans use marijuana at least monthly but both the producers and consumers of this crop escape paying any taxes whatsoever on it. While precise figures are impossible given the illicit nature of the market, it is reasonable to suggest that California could easily collect at least $1.5 billion and maybe as much as $4 billion annually in additional tax revenue, if we took marijuana out of the criminal underground and taxed and regulated it, similar to how handle beer, wine and tobacco.
Marijuana prohibition costs us in other ways as well.
Last year, the state's Campaign Against Marijuana Planting (CAMP) eradicated 2.9 million marijuana plants. CAMP and similar efforts have never made the slightest dent in the availability of marijuana, but they do involve many thousands of person-hours of effort and the use of helicopters and other expensive equipment - all at taxpayers' expense.
It gets worse. Some 70 percent of the plants CAMP seized were on public lands - often remote corners of national forests, parks and other wilderness areas. These clandestine gardens pose a threat to our environment as well as the safety of hikers and other visitors to our parks. Regulating marijuana would remove incentives to grow these secret farms on public land and save millions in eradication and environmental clean-up costs. After all, there's a reason we never hear of criminal gangs planting illicit vineyards in our national forests.
California's taxpayers are also paying law enforcement officers to arrest marijuana consumers. According to FBI statistics, California arrested 74,119 people on marijuana charges in 2007 - nearly 80 percent of those were for simple possession. Chasing down people for using this plant costs us real money and isn't proving an effective strategy for curbing its use.
Every lost revenue source or misplaced expenditure is another deep cut into public safety, schools, and other essential services. It's time to tax and regulate the state's largest cash crop.
F. Aaron Smith is California policy director for the Marijuana Policy Project ( www.mpp.org).
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/01/13/EDA4157U1Q.DTL
This article appeared on page B - 7 of the San Francisco Chronicle
New Mexico Finalizes medical marijuana regulations
For the Headlight
Posted: 01/13/2009 12:00:00 AM MST
SANTA FE — The New Mexico Department of Health has finalized regulations for the registry identification cards and a production/distribution system for its medical cannabis program. The Department will accept applications from nonprofit businesses interested in producing and distributing medical cannabis for patients in New Mexico. Qualified patients can also apply to produce medical cannabis for themselves.
"We have worked hard to create a medical cannabis program that will be viable and meet the needs of patients in New Mexico," said Health Secretary Alfredo Vigil. "Now patients can get medical cannabis for their chronic health conditions in a way that is safe and legal under state law."
The regulations provide for two kinds of licensed producers: a qualified patient who can produce up to four mature plants and 12 seedlings for personal use only and a nonprofit private entity that can produce a total of 95 mature plants and seedlings and an inventory of usable marijuana that reflects current patient needs at any time. The Health Secretary will consider the health needs of qualified patients and the public safety in determining the number and location of licenses that the Department of Health approves.
Based on public comments, the Department revised its regulations regarding verification of applicant information, monitoring actions and requirements for a non-profit board. The Department also changed its application fees for patients applying to be producers, allowing the fee to be waived depending on the patient's income. The regulations include measures to prevent the unauthorized use of marijuana.
The Department will evaluate the regulations and provide an annual report to the Health Secretary to determine whether patients' needs are being met and whether a state-run production and distribution facility is needed.
The Department of Health also revised its regulations regarding the registry identification cards after receiving feedback during three public hearings. The regulation allows patients to possess 6 ounces of medical marijuana. Due to concerns that the amount was inadequate, the revised rule allows the Department to consider an amount greater than 6 ounces if a practitioner explains why a larger dose is needed.
Since the program began in 2007, the Department has approved 207 applications from chronically ill patients who are eligible to receive medical marijuana to seek relief from their pain. State law specifies seven health conditions that are eligible for medical cannabis. The law also allows people to petition the Department to add new medical conditions.
The Department's Medical Advisory Board will hold a public hearing at 9 a.m. on Thursday at Los Griegos Community Center, 1231 Candelaria NW, in Albuquerque to review petitions to add new health conditions eligible for the Department's Medical Cannabis Program. The Board's eight board-certified physicians will consider petitions that have been previously submitted to the Department of Health.
To apply for the Medical Cannabis program, to be a licensed producer or to petition for a new condition, look up www.nmhealth.org/marijuana or call the Medical Cannabis Program Coordinator at (505) 827-2321.
http://www.demingheadlight.com/ci_11438850
Montana Medical Marijuana Case to go to Trial
By Pat Hansen for The Montana Standard - 01/12/2009
DEER LODGE — A medical marijuana case is scheduled for trial in Deer Lodge district court beginning Jan. 20.
David Brian Kinney, 48, of Three Forks, who allegedly is a medical marijuana user and caregiver, was arrested in August 2008. He was charged with felony possession of dangerous drugs with the intent to distribute, criminal possession of dangerous drugs, use or possession of property subject to forfeiture, and four misdemeanor charges of fraudulent representation of medical use of marijuana, and daytime speeding, a misdemeanor.
Lawyers for both sides met with Judge Ray Dayton on Thursday for a pre-trial hearing on the case.
County Attorney Lewis Smith moved to add another count — felony criminal possession of dangerous drugs — for a bottle containing hashish oil found in the car after it was impounded.
Kinney's lawyer, Christopher Miller, objected saying hashish oil is not defined in state law as a controlled substance. He argued hashish oil contains a significant amount of inert material and the liquid must be analyzed to quantify the amount of hashish. That's because the weight would determine if an offense is a misdemeanor or a felony, Miller said.
Lewis argued the definition of hashish is in the code. He said a state crime lab technician would testify the product constitutes hashish because it is a blended product and the amount is enough for a felony charge.
Judge Dayton admitted the case is "somewhat novel" and granted the defense's motion for supplemental discovery by the crime lab as to what is in the bottle.
According to court records, the charges arose after Kinney was stopped for speeding. While talking with Kinney, Montana Highway Patrol officer James Handy detected the odor of marijuana. He read Kinney his rights and then questioned him about the marijuana odor.
Court records say Kinney admitted he possessed approximately one-half pound of marijuana packaged for individual use in one-ounce increments. He produced four medical marijuana permit cards issued by the Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services, as well as a permit for his own use.
He said he was going to Missoula to sell or distribute marijuana to a person who had an out-of-state medical marijuana card.
According to the Montana Medical Marijuana Act, a person is permitted to possess one ounce of marijuana for a qualified patient or for each qualified patient for whom they are listed as a caregiver.
The court records indicate Kinney allegedly did not have a permit for the remaining marijuana, which constitutes the offense of criminal possession of dangerous drugs with intent to distribute.
Kinney was subsequently arrested; and his 1976 Chevrolet Nova and $4,911 in cash were seized and taken to the Powell County sheriff's office.
Correspondent Pat Hansen may be reached via e-mail at phansen@blackfoot.net.
Monday, January 12, 2009
Palm Springs to close Collectives
7 dispensaries operating in Palm Springs illegally
K Kaufmann • The Desert Sun • January 10, 2009
With its vote to limit the number of medical marijuana dispensaries in the city to two, the Palm Springs City Council on Wednesday signaled it is done turning a blind eye to the businesses, some of which have been operating illegally for more than two years.
The 3-2 vote only directed staff to draft the new, more restrictive ordinance, which City Attorney Doug Holland said would likely go back to the council in early February. But Holland said Friday he also will be going to court early next month for injunctions to shut down all dispensaries in business in the city — now estimated at seven.
"We are in the process of preparing the documents," Holland said. "We've already sent out letters notifying them they are illegal operations. We are seeking orders from the court telling every one of the operations they are to cease operating."
The suits will be filed in Riverside County Civil Court, he said.
The decision to go to court, like the two-collective limit and other restrictions in the proposed law, caught dispensary owners off guard.
Under the law, dispensaries would have to be organized as nonprofit collectives or cooperatives, as recommended in the guidelines state Attorney General Jerry Brown issued in August.
"If everybody would close down, a lot of patients would be left to go nowhere," said Lilly Lazarin, owner of the West Valley Patients Association, located on Newhall Street in North Palm Springs.
Before going to court, she said, city officials "need to decide what they're going to do, who's going to be allowed."
Still, Lazarin and other patient advocates gave the council credit for being the only city in Riverside County to consider allowing any dispensaries in the city.
"Palm Springs wants to go slow," said Lanny Swerdlow, president of the Marijuana Anti-Prohibition Project, a patient advocacy group. "I can't blame them; they don't want to get their fingers burned."
But Stacy Hochanadel, owner of CannaHelp on Industrial Place, said the two-collective limit could create unintended risks.
"That's just going to put a lot of demand on collectives for a lot of marijuana," Hochanadel said. "That means a lot more cost of initial startup for those two collectives if we're going to do compliance with what the attorney general and the city want."
J. David Nick, attorney for the The Holistic Cooperative on Palm Canyon Way, said any effort to limit the number of collectives in the city could be illegal.
"They cannot deny people the right to have collectives by limiting the number," Nick said. "They have to be consistent with the Medical Marijuana Program Act."
That law, commonly called Senate Bill 420, establishes patients' right to form collectives.
"If you're kicking people out, that's not consistent," Nick said.
He hopes to meet with city officials to discuss the ordinance.
In the meantime, city staff are just beginning to look at how they will set up the licensing process. Officials floated the idea of a lottery at Wednesday's council meeting, but Holland said Friday that was unlikely.
"There's probably going to be some kind of process very similar to an RFQ — Request for Qualifications," Holland said. "They would be reviewed to determine they are in full compliance with the ordinance and (state) guidelines.
"There would be a qualitative review of the operation, how it blends into the area how well it serves the needs of Palm Springs residents," Holland said.
"I think it should be look at everyone's track record, who's done stuff for the community," said Shawn Marley, a volunteer at Community Caregivers, dispensary on Palm Canyon Drive. "I just hope the city chooses wisely."
K Kaufmann covers can be reached at k.kaufmann@thedesertsun.com or 778-4622.
http://www.mydesert.com/article/20090110/NEWS01/901100346/-1/newsfront
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Medical Zoning sought in Mendocino
Request for land-use rules met with skepticism
By GLENDA ANDERSON
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT
Published: Friday, January 9, 2009 at 4:22 a.m.
Last Modified: Friday, January 9, 2009 at 9:14 a.m.
Mendocino County medical marijuana advocates have proposed that pot production be regulated through land-use requirements in the county's general plan, saying it would legitimize growers and generate income for the county.
But Mendocino County supervisors have no intention of taking up the issue.
"I put that in the ridiculous category," Supervisor John Pinches said Thursday.
The case for medical marijuana zoning was submitted in a letter to county supervisors by former Supervisor Norman deVall on behalf of the Mendocino Medical Marijuana Advisory Board.
The board "believes that normalizing legitimate growing of medical marijuana for the benefit not only of patient-growers, collectives and cooperatives but also for the county is overdue," wrote de Vall, a planning and land use consultant.
Pebbles Trippet, a medical marijuana advocate and advisory board secretary, has said such regulations could raise significant revenue for the county in a time of financial crisis.
It also could be a way of finding middle ground between law enforcement and the medical marijuana community, which have been increasingly at odds, she said.
Just how the regulations would help the county was unclear.
By law, land use permits can recover only the actual costs of regulation. Unless the federal government joins California in legalizing medical marijuana, it cannot legally be taxed.
Requiring growers to take out a permit to cultivate their marijuana would be asking them to incriminate themselves and place the county in jeopardy, said Supervisor David Colfax.
"The county can't put itself in the position of permitting the growing and possession of marijuana," he said.
You can reach Staff Writer Glenda Anderson at 462-6473 or glenda.anderson@pressdemocrat.com.
http://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/20090109/news/901090351&tc=yahoo
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Friday, January 9, 2009
Michigan Medical Marihuana Program
BY MEGHA SATYANARAYANA • FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER • January 6, 2009
The draft rules for the state's medical marijuana program treat users as criminals and put undue responsibility on law enforcement, say those who spoke at the only public hearing on the topic Monday in Lansing.
More than 100 people gathered to voice concerns about regulations drawn by the Michigan Department of Community Health, which will oversee the program starting April 4.
Among the issues raised were possible constitutional and privacy violations, as well as what some advocates say is a too-narrow definition of "public place," where medical marijuana use would still be illegal.
"We are responsible, law-abiding adults. We want a sensible, workable medical marijuana program," said Greg Francisco, executive director of the Michigan Medical Marijuana Association (MMMA)
Under the draft rules, registered users of marijuana for medical purposes or their caregivers would have to keep records of the amounts of marijuana they grow, and users would have to identify other users on registration forms.
"I don't have to tell my pharmacist every other patient who my doctor has written a prescription for," Francisco said.
The complaints have merit, said Peter Hammer, a health law professor at Wayne State University.
"There's a lot of discretion in who drafts the rules to make it easy or harder. It's clear these rules are designed to make it hard," he said.
MDCH's director, Janet Olszewski, publicly opposed Proposal 1. In November, voters in every county said yes to Proposal 1, which would allow people with terminal or chronic illnesses such as cancer, HIV and neurological diseases, or their caregivers, to grow and use medical marijuana without fear of state prosecution.
The proposal also allows for a medical marijuana defense, should a user or caregiver be caught in possession while in public.
There was concern about MDCH contacting federal Medicaid and Social Security offices as part of registration. . Marijuana use is still a federal crime, and the information could be incriminating under federal prosecution, or at least be grounds for denial of benefits, advocates said.
"We need to change the law enforcement paradigm to a public health paradigm," said Melody Karr of MMMA.
A Michigan State Police spokesman indicated the agency didn't want responsibility of destroying excess marijuana, as written in the draft. Greg Zarotney, of the State Police executive division, said users or caregivers should destroy excess, or MDCH should add rules allowing the transfer of excess marijuana from a former user to a new one.
"It's burdensome for law enforcement to have someone come in asking to destroy 12 plants. Plants can grow quite big," he said.
Zarotney suggested the state's registration system be tied into the same database with driver's licenses, to allow officers to quickly know if a user or caregiver was legitimately registered.
The requirement for a face-to-face interview also was denounced, as advocates said some users were too sick to travel lengthy distances for an interview.
Some rules imposed actions not mentioned in the law, including requiring users to keep all marijuana under lock and key, instead of just plants. Melissa DiPirro, of the Macomb County office of substance abuse, spoke in favor of the rule, adding that prescription drugs should be locked up as well.
Desmond Mitchell said as a regulatory agency official, the multiple comments gave them a user's perspective.
"Nobody's pulling a fast one or has a secret agenda," he said.
Contact MEGHA SATYANARAYANA at 313-223-4544 or megha@freepress.com.
http://www.freep.com/article/20090106/NEWS06/901060353/-1/rss07
----------------------------
Michigan's Medical Marijuana Rules Open to Debate
Last Edited: Tuesday, 06 Jan 2009, 5:31 AM EST
Created: Tuesday, 06 Jan 2009, 5:31 AM EST
LANSING, Mich. (AP) -- Michigan officials still are working on the rules to guide the use of marijuana for medical purposes.
The Department of Community Health's first crack at drafting official procedures for the program ran into some opposition at a public hearing Monday.
Medical marijuana advocates say the draft rules put too many restrictions on patients. They oppose a proposal that patients and caregivers be required to keep records of the marijuana grown for use.
The new law approved by Michigan voters in November will allow patients with cancer, HIV, AIDS, glaucoma and other diseases to use marijuana to relieve symptoms on a doctor's recommendation. But the state must finalize rules for the program before patients can apply.
Rules must be finalized by April 4.
http://www.myfoxdetroit.com/myfox/pages/News/Detail?contentId=8198557&version=1&locale=EN-US&layoutCode=TSTY&pageId=3.2.1
__._,_.___
Landlords Threatened with forfeiture
January, 2009
Landlords Of Medical Cannabis Centers Threatened With Real Estate Forfeiture
By Jacqueline Patterson
Many Bay area medical cannabis dispensary operators, including Marin's own
lyrical Lynette Shaw, rallied in Downtown San Francisco on December 20th in
protest of the Drug Enforcement Administration's recent execution of another
attack on medical cannabis dispensaries.
In an effort to overcome the obstacles raised in the raid tactics the DEA
employed in earlier attempts to circumvent a compassionate community of
medical cannabis connoisseurs, the feds have resorted to sending letters to
landlords who rent commercial space to medical cannabis providers, first in
Southern California back in July and more recently here in the Bay area.
Landlords who own space occupied by medical cannabis dispensaries in Marin,
San Francisco, and Alameda counties received letters the second week in
December.
So far, only one landlord has been tried and convicted In May of 2007, 62
year-old Thomas Grossi Sr. was ordered to forfeit nearly $400,000 and
sentenced to 30 months in federal prison. When released from prison, Grossi
will be required to complete a three-year period of supervised release. Such
harsh punishment (in contrast there was a case in this country in which a
pedophile was given probation because the judge deemed him too short to go
to prison) can only be construed as a deterrent to any property owner who
might think to advance the safe legal (under state law) distribution of
medical cannabis. Surely productive law-abiding citizens will not risk their
liberty or even their personal assets when threatened with such great risk
of loss and trauma.
It would seem that inspiring landlords to evict tenants who cultivate,
process, or distribute medical cannabis might be more cost effective and
less labor intensive than the oft employed raids, but this new strategy has
not only instigated potential legal defenses of the medical cannabis
community, it has also drawn the attention of members of Congress, many of
whom already opposed the use of brutal force against patients who were
complying with local law.
Respectively, in a stroke of legal genius, the Union of Medical Marijuana
Providers filed a lawsuit on December 6th that charges the DEA with
violation of California Penal Code ¤ 518, "which provides that 'extortion is
the obtaining of property from another, with his consent, or the obtaining
of an official act of a public officer induced by wrongful use of force or
fear or under color of official right."
The lawsuit attracted the attention of Michigan Congressman John Conyers
who, on December 7, issued the following statement, "I am deeply concerned
about recent reports that the Drug Enforcement Administration is threatening
private landlords with asset forfeiture and possible imprisonment if they
refuse to evict organizations legally dispensing medical marijuana to
suffering patients."
The House Judiciary Committee Chairman followed the comment by stating that
the Committee had already questioned the DEA in regards to the agency's
departure from the limitations of federalism with respect to California'
Compassionate Use Act.
Interestingly, the UMMP lawsuit was prefaced by a letter dated October 19th,
2007 to Timothy Landrum, Special Agent in Charge of the Los Angeles Field
Division Office of the Drug Enforcement Administration. The correspondence
claims that on October 11, 2007 the DEA retaliated against the Arts District
Healing Center, a medical cannabis dispensary that legally operated in Los
Angeles for about 18 months, because that particular collective was the
solitary seeker of legal protection from the landlord letters that were sent
in August.
Since its inception in 1973, the Drug Enforcement Administration has
adamantly maintained that "marijuana" is a Schedule I drug with no approved
medical value, only recently conceding (notably, in Showtime's independent
film "In POT We Trust") that "smoked marijuana" has "no medical value" and
is rightly confined to its Schedule I status.
If that is the case, however, then why are tins of machine rolled "marijuana
cigarettes" sent to the five remaining patients who receive freeze-dried
marijuana from the federal government under the investigational new drug
protocol first implemented by Robert Randall in the mid-seventies? For
nearly twenty-five years, the physicians of patients who had happened upon
the evidence that cannabis alleviated symptoms of disorders or diseases
which conventional pharmatherapies failed to adequately treat were invited
to wade through years of paperwork so that they might one day receive, for
said patient, shiny tin cans of ten-year-old marijuana.
Because the seeds and stems are left in the smokeable plant matter, aging
patients, already in pain from rare diseases such as nail patella syndrome
and multiple congenital cartilaginous exostoses, must unroll, clean,
moisturize, and reroll their medicine into what only the American government
refers to as "marijuana cigarettes" because that is the only method of
ingestion that our government approved.
"The rights of one American belong to all," states George McMahon in his
gravelly wizened voice but another George disagreed. McMahon was the last
patient to be granted government shwag (which keeps him alive and kickin)
before President George Bush Sr. shut the protocol down in response to an
overwhelming flood of applications from AIDS victims dealing with the
devastating effects of the disease, and the harsh side effects of the
chemical cocktails meant to preserve the patients health.
For many of those patients marijuana meant the difference between life and
death and Former President Bush closed the door on their only avenue of
legal access to safe effective medicine at that time but when the MANN
closes the Door, the rebels open a window and compassionate Californians
built a movement that has inspired a nation (slowly) to follow.
In July, a custody hearing was held regarding my seven-year-old son; I
didn't have the physical or financial capacity to get to the hearing, nor
could I, at that point in time, care for my brave compassionate little boy.
So custody was awarded to the petitioning party and as much as that hurts,
it happens every day to thousands of medical cannabis patients all over the
nation.
In this particular instance, the judge reprimanded me for using my children
as "props" at a marijuana rally at which I spoke to garner support for the
medical cannabis bill for which Missouri patients had secured a committee
hearing.
My parents smoked marijuana recreationally for years when I was a child and
I swore that I would never hide my use of the herb from my own children. On
the contrary, I have made every effort to teach my children American values,
which include making bad laws better, not that a judge in Iowa would ever
understand that.
The "Conservative" camp in America's politic circus contends that legalizing
medical cannabis would set a bad example for the children but as Patients
Out of Time (which is what the POT in "In POT We Trust" really stands for)
Director, Mary Lynn Mathre points out, we should be teaching our children
that "medicine should only be used when needed and at the appropriate
dosage. Medicine should not be used for fun." If the abuse of pharmaceutical
drugs prevalent in youth culture today is any indication, I think that
message may have gotten lost in the mail.
Meanwhile, medical cannabis providers will brace themselves against the
raids, from which they now have a bit of a holiday reprieve, and continue
the struggle to provide patients with cannabis and edibles because as Mickey
Martin of former Tainted fame says, "providing safe effective reliable
medicine to people who need it, gives us a purpose.'
http://www.coastalpost.com/09/01/01_Landlords_Of_Medi_13A06F.html
Landlords Of Medical Cannabis Centers Threatened With Real Estate Forfeiture
By Jacqueline Patterson
Many Bay area medical cannabis dispensary operators, including Marin's own
lyrical Lynette Shaw, rallied in Downtown San Francisco on December 20th in
protest of the Drug Enforcement Administration's recent execution of another
attack on medical cannabis dispensaries.
In an effort to overcome the obstacles raised in the raid tactics the DEA
employed in earlier attempts to circumvent a compassionate community of
medical cannabis connoisseurs, the feds have resorted to sending letters to
landlords who rent commercial space to medical cannabis providers, first in
Southern California back in July and more recently here in the Bay area.
Landlords who own space occupied by medical cannabis dispensaries in Marin,
San Francisco, and Alameda counties received letters the second week in
December.
So far, only one landlord has been tried and convicted In May of 2007, 62
year-old Thomas Grossi Sr. was ordered to forfeit nearly $400,000 and
sentenced to 30 months in federal prison. When released from prison, Grossi
will be required to complete a three-year period of supervised release. Such
harsh punishment (in contrast there was a case in this country in which a
pedophile was given probation because the judge deemed him too short to go
to prison) can only be construed as a deterrent to any property owner who
might think to advance the safe legal (under state law) distribution of
medical cannabis. Surely productive law-abiding citizens will not risk their
liberty or even their personal assets when threatened with such great risk
of loss and trauma.
It would seem that inspiring landlords to evict tenants who cultivate,
process, or distribute medical cannabis might be more cost effective and
less labor intensive than the oft employed raids, but this new strategy has
not only instigated potential legal defenses of the medical cannabis
community, it has also drawn the attention of members of Congress, many of
whom already opposed the use of brutal force against patients who were
complying with local law.
Respectively, in a stroke of legal genius, the Union of Medical Marijuana
Providers filed a lawsuit on December 6th that charges the DEA with
violation of California Penal Code ¤ 518, "which provides that 'extortion is
the obtaining of property from another, with his consent, or the obtaining
of an official act of a public officer induced by wrongful use of force or
fear or under color of official right."
The lawsuit attracted the attention of Michigan Congressman John Conyers
who, on December 7, issued the following statement, "I am deeply concerned
about recent reports that the Drug Enforcement Administration is threatening
private landlords with asset forfeiture and possible imprisonment if they
refuse to evict organizations legally dispensing medical marijuana to
suffering patients."
The House Judiciary Committee Chairman followed the comment by stating that
the Committee had already questioned the DEA in regards to the agency's
departure from the limitations of federalism with respect to California'
Compassionate Use Act.
Interestingly, the UMMP lawsuit was prefaced by a letter dated October 19th,
2007 to Timothy Landrum, Special Agent in Charge of the Los Angeles Field
Division Office of the Drug Enforcement Administration. The correspondence
claims that on October 11, 2007 the DEA retaliated against the Arts District
Healing Center, a medical cannabis dispensary that legally operated in Los
Angeles for about 18 months, because that particular collective was the
solitary seeker of legal protection from the landlord letters that were sent
in August.
Since its inception in 1973, the Drug Enforcement Administration has
adamantly maintained that "marijuana" is a Schedule I drug with no approved
medical value, only recently conceding (notably, in Showtime's independent
film "In POT We Trust") that "smoked marijuana" has "no medical value" and
is rightly confined to its Schedule I status.
If that is the case, however, then why are tins of machine rolled "marijuana
cigarettes" sent to the five remaining patients who receive freeze-dried
marijuana from the federal government under the investigational new drug
protocol first implemented by Robert Randall in the mid-seventies? For
nearly twenty-five years, the physicians of patients who had happened upon
the evidence that cannabis alleviated symptoms of disorders or diseases
which conventional pharmatherapies failed to adequately treat were invited
to wade through years of paperwork so that they might one day receive, for
said patient, shiny tin cans of ten-year-old marijuana.
Because the seeds and stems are left in the smokeable plant matter, aging
patients, already in pain from rare diseases such as nail patella syndrome
and multiple congenital cartilaginous exostoses, must unroll, clean,
moisturize, and reroll their medicine into what only the American government
refers to as "marijuana cigarettes" because that is the only method of
ingestion that our government approved.
"The rights of one American belong to all," states George McMahon in his
gravelly wizened voice but another George disagreed. McMahon was the last
patient to be granted government shwag (which keeps him alive and kickin)
before President George Bush Sr. shut the protocol down in response to an
overwhelming flood of applications from AIDS victims dealing with the
devastating effects of the disease, and the harsh side effects of the
chemical cocktails meant to preserve the patients health.
For many of those patients marijuana meant the difference between life and
death and Former President Bush closed the door on their only avenue of
legal access to safe effective medicine at that time but when the MANN
closes the Door, the rebels open a window and compassionate Californians
built a movement that has inspired a nation (slowly) to follow.
In July, a custody hearing was held regarding my seven-year-old son; I
didn't have the physical or financial capacity to get to the hearing, nor
could I, at that point in time, care for my brave compassionate little boy.
So custody was awarded to the petitioning party and as much as that hurts,
it happens every day to thousands of medical cannabis patients all over the
nation.
In this particular instance, the judge reprimanded me for using my children
as "props" at a marijuana rally at which I spoke to garner support for the
medical cannabis bill for which Missouri patients had secured a committee
hearing.
My parents smoked marijuana recreationally for years when I was a child and
I swore that I would never hide my use of the herb from my own children. On
the contrary, I have made every effort to teach my children American values,
which include making bad laws better, not that a judge in Iowa would ever
understand that.
The "Conservative" camp in America's politic circus contends that legalizing
medical cannabis would set a bad example for the children but as Patients
Out of Time (which is what the POT in "In POT We Trust" really stands for)
Director, Mary Lynn Mathre points out, we should be teaching our children
that "medicine should only be used when needed and at the appropriate
dosage. Medicine should not be used for fun." If the abuse of pharmaceutical
drugs prevalent in youth culture today is any indication, I think that
message may have gotten lost in the mail.
Meanwhile, medical cannabis providers will brace themselves against the
raids, from which they now have a bit of a holiday reprieve, and continue
the struggle to provide patients with cannabis and edibles because as Mickey
Martin of former Tainted fame says, "providing safe effective reliable
medicine to people who need it, gives us a purpose.'
http://www.coastalpost.com/09/01/01_Landlords_Of_Medi_13A06F.html
Friday, January 2, 2009
MMJ user sues SB County
By Will Bigham, Staff Writer
Posted: 01/01/2009 07:08:37 AM PST
A medical marijuana user announced this week that he will file a lawsuit Monday against San Bernardino County to compel the county to issue ID cards to medical marijuana users.
Scott Bledsoe, of Crestline, will also seek a court order halting the Sheriff Department's practice of arresting medical marijuana users for possession even when users present evidence that the drugs are for medical use, according to a news release.
Although a state law passed in 2003 compels counties to issue ID cards to medical marijuana users, San Bernardino county and several other counties have refused to do so, citing the state law's conflict with federal law, which prohibits marijuana possession.
San Bernardino County joined San Diego County in a 2006 lawsuit against the state challenging the constitutionality of the state's medical marijuana program.
A San Diego County judge ruled in favor of the state, and that ruling was affirmed in July by a State Court of Appeal.
The State Supreme Court declined to consider an appeal of the decision brought by the counties. The counties have said they intend to appeal the ruling to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Until the appeals process is completed, San Bernardino County will not consider issuing ID cards for medical marijuana users, said county spokesman David Wert.
"The courts have not addressed the conflict between state and federal law," Wert said.
Sheriff's deputies in the county are instructed to arrest people who possess marijuana even when the users present marijuana ID cards issued by other counties, said San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department spokeswoman Arden Wiltshire.
"The sheriff believes that federal law supersedes state law, and we do not recognize cards issued by other areas," Wiltshire said.
Lanny Swerdlow, director of the Marijuana Anti-Prohibition Project, said the county's position on medical marijuana is harmful to people who need the drug for medical reasons.
"People are being arrested," Swerdlow said. "Their lives are being ruined - just because Sheriff Gary Penrod wants to keep arresting medical marijuana patients and the Board of Supervisors does his bidding."
Swerdlow, of Palm Springs, said he helped arrange the lawsuit by pairing Bledsoe with an attorney, J. David Scott, who is willing to perform legal services pro bono.
"(Bledsoe) doesn't want to be arrested," Swerdlow said. "That's the problem. If you don't get the ID card, you can be arrested."
Swerdlow said activists believe that a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision declining to consider an appeal in a medical-marijuana case proves the county's position is legally untenable.
A court of appeal ruled in 2007 that the city of Garden Grove must return marijuana to a medical marijuana patient whose drugs were seized when he was arrested.
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled it wouldn't hear the city's case on appeal in early December, meaning the court of appeal's ruling stands.
Swerdlow said Garden Grove's legal battle dealt with the same set of state and federal laws as the county's lawsuit.
Wert said he was not aware of the Garden Grove case.
Swerdlow said Bledsoe will be joined by a group of marijuana activists when he files the lawsuit in San Bernardino Superior Court at 1 p.m. Monday.
Wert declined to comment when asked specifically about Bledsoe's threatened legal action.
will.bigham@inlandnewspapers.com
(909) 483-8553
Palm Springs
City considers medical marijuana sites
Staff Report • January 2, 2009
Palm Springs passed a moratorium on dispensaries in March 2006 but allowed it to expire earlier this year, paving the way for possibly allowing medical marijuana dispensaries in the city.
A proposed law would allow dispensaries as nonprofit collectives or cooperatives in areas zoned for industrial or professional use but would not protect the dispensaries or patients from prosecution under federal law.
The City Council will consider a decision at its Jan. 7 meeting.
Staff Report • January 2, 2009
Palm Springs passed a moratorium on dispensaries in March 2006 but allowed it to expire earlier this year, paving the way for possibly allowing medical marijuana dispensaries in the city.
A proposed law would allow dispensaries as nonprofit collectives or cooperatives in areas zoned for industrial or professional use but would not protect the dispensaries or patients from prosecution under federal law.
The City Council will consider a decision at its Jan. 7 meeting.
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