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Two Modesto men found guilty in medical marijuana case Verdict comes with 20-year minimum prison sentence
FRESNO -- A federal jury found two Modesto men guilty Thursday of drug charges for operating a medical marijuana dispensary, which raked in $6 million to $9 million in less than two years.
Luke Scarmazzo and Ricardo Ruiz Montes, both 27, immediately were taken into custody.
Both men were convicted of manufacturing marijuana and distributing the drug, as well as operating a continuing criminal enterprise, a felony that carries a mandatory 20-year minimum prison term, with the possibility of life behind bars.
Jurors cleared each man on weapons charges but deadlocked on a conspir-acy charge. U.S. District Judge Oliver W. Wanger scheduled a May 27 hearing, when the government will decide whether to retry the men on the conspiracy charge.
Anthony Capozzi, who represented Scarmazzo, said after the verdict that it was "an unfair prosecution," in which the federal government piled on criminal charges against two people who never intended to break the law.
"It's an injustice for these people to go away for 20 years," he said.
But U.S. Attorney McGregor W. Scott said Montes and Scarmazzo's business had nothing to do with the medical use of marijuana.
"They were operating as drug dealers, plain and simple," he said in a telephone interview after the verdict.
Modesto Police Chief Roy Wasden supported the jury's decision.
"I think it's a correct verdict," he said. "The jury validated this was a criminal enterprise."
In September 2006, federal authorities raided the California Healthcare Collective in Modesto after a long investigation that included undercover drug buys.
Scarmazzo and Montes said they never intended to break the law. The business, their attorneys said, was "aboveboard," obtaining a business license, paying taxes and making sure patients had doctors' notes before purchases.
"Everything the defendants did was legal under state law," Capozzi said after the verdict. But neither he nor Robert Forkner, who represented Montes, were able to use state law as a defense because under federal law, marijuana is illegal.
Prosecutors said federal law not only trumped state law, but the two men also violated state law because their business wasn't a nonprofit enterprise.
Defense attorneys offered evidence that the business was at one point transformed into a nonprofit, but prosecutors said Scarmazzo and Montes spent collective money for nonbusiness items, in addition to their salaries.
Among the items the two men bought were jet skis and a $180,000 Mercedes-Benz.
A key part of the trial was a hip-hop video that featured Scarmazzo uttering the line "Fuck the feds."
Scarmazzo, a musician and aspiring hip-hop artist, took the stand to explain, saying it was his way of showing that the federal government "is turning a blind eye" to medical marijuana, which he said could help people.
The video was perhaps the most sensational part of the trial, and there were suggestions from Capozzi that Scarmazzo was on trial only because he dared to challenge the federal government's authority.
Jurors deliberated for two days before delivering their verdict.
One juror, Craig Will of Tuolumne County, said after the verdict that he expected the two men to get probation or a few months in prison.
"I'm really appalled to discover that there's a 20-year mandatory minimum on the continuing criminal enterprise charge," he said.
Capozzi said he plans to seek a new trial and will appeal to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals because he said he believes there was insufficient evidence to merit the continuing criminal enterprise verdict.
I think if you are going to run a medical marijuana dispensary it would
be important to be 'low-key' to stay out of the Feds crosshairs.
The video is definitely not 'low key', but it does kick ass.
Hope they do better on appeal.
Quote: veggie said: A key part of the trial was a hip-hop video that featured Scarmazzo uttering the line "Fuck the feds."
Retardddddddd
No wonder they got raped, you say fuck the feds, the feds say turn over it's your turn, and this fucking is going to hurt a lot more, moron.
-------------------- “There’s no way to rule innocent men. The only power government has is the power to crack down on criminals. Well, when there aren’t enough criminals, one makes them". -Ayn Rand
“Useless laws weaken the necessary laws.”
-Montesquieu, 1748
The thesis that I want to advance today is that the drug war and the laws that prohibit the private consumption of certain drugs are unconstitutional. Prohibition laws, themselves, violate every tenet of limited government that is embodied in our Constitution.
http://www.paulhager.org/libertarian/drug_con.html
Haha never thought i would see my own town on the shroomery headlines. It is funny because the club they ran was right next door to my car insurance place, i would drive by all the time. There was litterally people going in and out of there all day long. Easily 50-70 people in and out of the door in an hour, all day long. You could stand out in the parking lot and smell the dank.... Their case is probably one of the only ones i think where they deserve it, they make the medicinal marijuana community look bad...
--------------------
Isn't it interesting that the two drugs that are legal, alcohol and cigarettes, are the two drugs that do absolutely nothing for you whatsoever, and drugs that grow naturally on this planet, drugs that open your eyes up to make you realize how you're being fucked every day of your life---those drugs are against the law. Wow! Coincidence? I don't know."
Yeah if the Enterprise charged got dropped and they dealt less than 999kg of marijuana, which I assume they did. Then they are only going to serve the five minimum. Five years its bad but TWENTY. That's horrible to do that those kind of people.
gangster rap and shroomery is like, ugh.....go away!
-------------------- To walk through the world by ones self, you can't be
Protected... your trust is in whiskey and weed and
Black Sabbath - It's Goddamn Electric.
Pantera
- Support www.fsrc.nl R.I.P Fsrcanada and thank you Shdwstr
Quote: openmind said: Their case is probably one of the only ones i think where they deserve it, they make the medicinal marijuana community look bad...
Who gives a fuck - they deserve it? - that's a stretch! What they are saying is they are providing a state legal services, making a profit just like any other business why are we FUCKING WITH THEM? Point well made.
Taunting the federal government could not help the case, but oh well at least they are making a correct statement and going down by making noise instead of being all hush. I am sure that video has enlightened at least one person to take sides on the issue and as people continue to be enlightened that the war on drugs is bottomless money pit that HURTS people.
We need to quit spending money to HURT people and spend money to HELP people. But somehow we have this functional rational in the USA, by HURTING PEOPLE we can HELP THEM. Just like how we go to Iraq and kill people to show people that killing is wrong. Maybe someone can explain that.
Quote: openmind said: Their case is probably one of the only ones i think where they deserve it, they make the medicinal marijuana community look bad...
Who gives a fuck - they deserve it? - that's a stretch! What they are saying is they are providing a state legal services, making a profit just like any other business why are we FUCKING WITH THEM? Point well made.
Taunting the federal government could not help the case, but oh well at least they are making a correct statement and going down by making noise instead of being all hush. I am sure that video has enlightened at least one person to take sides on the issue and as people continue to be enlightened that the war on drugs is bottomless money pit that HURTS people.
We need to quit spending money to HURT people and spend money to HELP people. But somehow we have this functional rational in the USA, by HURTING PEOPLE we can HELP THEM. Just like how we go to Iraq and kill people to show people that killing is wrong. Maybe someone can explain that.
Anyways end of rant I'll go smoke one.
There was a lot more that happened that was not said in that article, this case has been a big local thing for a couple years in my town now. A lot of the bud they sold was not grown by medicinal caregivers or the people that should be, it was from illegal grow opps. They were selling to people without cards...If they ran a business legitamitely and weren't stupid about it they would still be in business today, well they probably would of been raided anyway adventually...And there were some things that the cops did that was shady....
Im not saying the feds and cops were in the right, or them, but their dumb asses didn't help any....
--------------------
Isn't it interesting that the two drugs that are legal, alcohol and cigarettes, are the two drugs that do absolutely nothing for you whatsoever, and drugs that grow naturally on this planet, drugs that open your eyes up to make you realize how you're being fucked every day of your life---those drugs are against the law. Wow! Coincidence? I don't know."
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FRESNO -- A federal jury found two Modesto men guilty Thursday of drug charges for operating a medical marijuana dispensary, which raked in $6 million to $9 million in less than two years.
