July 21, 2011 in City

Medical marijuana dispensers indicted

Pot shops raided in April after warning

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The owners of two medical marijuana dispensaries in Spokane have been indicted by a federal grand jury.

Charles Wesley Wright and Jon Richard Vivian, owners of the THC Pharmacy on South Perry Street, and Jerry Wayne Laberdee and Dennis Lewis Whited, owners of Medical Herb Providers, face time in federal prison under multi-count indictments filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court.

The charges are the latest in an escalating effort by federal authorities to rein in marijuana trafficking in states like Washington where voters have approved its medical use.

“I think I’m more shocked than surprised,” said Spokane lawyer Frank Cikutovich, who specializes in marijuana cases.

Federal authorities warned medical marijuana providers in the Spokane area in early April that they planned to enforce federal drug laws regardless of Washington’s more lenient state laws and advised the shops to close immediately. Dispensaries across the Spokane area that ignored the warning, including THC Pharmacy and Medical Herb Providers, were raided three weeks later.

The raids, Cikutovich said, “solved the problem. … That one big weekend got rid of all the dispensaries and sent a message to everyone. … I just don’t see the need to put more people in prison for five, 10, 15 years for producing medicine.”

None of the suspects has been arrested, and they likely will be summoned to appear in court. They could not be reached for comment.

Cikutovich is not officially working on any of the cases but has stayed in regular contact with members of the medical marijuana community.

“They’ve all just been laying low hoping this day wouldn’t come,” he said.

Cikutovich said the cases will be difficult to defend because dispensers were operating in the open under the assumption federal authorities weren’t interested in prosecuting the medical marijuana users and distributors.

U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder has said federal authorities won’t prosecute medical marijuana cases that are complying with state law. But Washington’s medical marijuana law is ambiguous about dispensaries, and an effort to clarify it in the Legislature was vetoed by Gov. Chris Gregoire because of concerns that state employees could be prosecuted under federal drug laws.

Meanwhile, dozens of dispensaries were operating in the Spokane area, some near busy intersections and with heavy advertising.

“It’s going to be difficult to have a defense when they were openly doing it,” Cikutovich said. “Somebody’s got to get creative with it to save their butts on this one.”

Assistant U.S. Attorney Tom Rice, spokesman for the U.S. attorney’s office, declined comment.

Also indicted Wednesday was Russell Thomas Blake, who is accused of growing more than 100 marijuana plants at his property near Loon Lake. Federal authorities searched the property April 28.

Blake is charged with distribution of marijuana and possession with intent to distribute marijuana for incidents April 20 and 21. He also is charged with maintaining a drug-involved premise, which carries up to 20 years in prison.

Wright and Vivian face the same penalty if found guilty of maintaining a drug-involved premise near a school. THC Pharmacy was located at 1108 S. Perry St., less than 1,000 feet from Grant Elementary School.

Wright and Vivian are also charged with distribution of marijuana near a school, possession with intent to distribute marijuana near a school and manufacture of marijuana near a school. Each charge carries not less than a year and no more than 10 years.

Laberdee and Whited – who has said he began using medical marijuana after losing his leg in a crash in 2009 – are charged with distribution of marijuana, which carries up to five years in prison; manufacture of marijuana, which carries five to 40 years; and maintaining a drug-involved premise.

The five defendants also face a forfeiture charge that calls for them to forfeit any property or proceeds derived from their illegal operations.

Cikutovich said the penalties could increase once federal authorities calculate the amount of marijuana allegedly sold and possessed.

He expects federal officials to use business records seized from the dispensaries to quantify how much marijuana was sold.

“The businesses were trying to be as professional as possible and keep records. Unfortunately those records are now being used as exhibit A,” Cikutovich said. “They basically collected evidence for the government to go in and take.”

Five comments on this story so far. Add yours!

• 

  DickAdams on July 21 at 8:55 a.m.

  Law enforcement I would think, should have their priorities straight. Last night on KHQ 11pm news, it was reported a sex predator who was free to roam the streets in the Lilac City even though he had committed a sex crime in 2009 against a child, I`d think should have superseded the small stuff. Why was this pervert loose to roam? I guess the Obama administration hasn`t anything better to do than pick on selling pot dealers which the voters had already approved selling it for medical use. Why is it the career political politicians continue to poke their nose into stuff that is none of the feds business? Is it to take over state rights as so often is the case that should be left up to the state? Another pet peeve of mine is education. What does the Obama administration know about schooling around the country, like for example, district 81 or Mead or Spokane Valley? These pseudo intellectual pygmy’s should stick to the basic Federal stuff and let the states and local officials handle the business at hand.

• 

  gonzomo on July 21 at 2:39 p.m.

  This is my quote from yesterday’s article:

  Let us remember that both alcohol and drug prohibition were PROGRESSIVE ideas. Marijuana and a whole bunch of other drug were legal in the US until 1937. Nixon and the dems in congress upped the ante in 1970. We have not had any meaningful federal drug reform in 40 years.

  The main problem for the AG and the legislature in WA is a case called GONZALES V. RAICH from 2005. In it the court ruled that the feds could enforce any marijuana laws anywhere regardless of state law. While I agree that this action, just like the Obamacare law, violates many provisions in the Constitution, the feds have the law on their side. Federal law needs to change.

  The interesting thing about the Raich case is the majority was made up of the liberals on the court. The dissent (pro-pot) was made up of Oconner, Rehnquist, and Thomas. In fact, Justice Thomas, no hippie pinko, wrote the most pro-freedom defense of marijuana use ever written. It included the following quote:

  “The majority prevents States like California from devising drug policies that they have concluded provide much-needed respite to the seriously ill. It does so without any serious inquiry into the necessity for federal regulation or the propriety of “displac[ing] state regulation in areas of traditional state concern. The majority’s rush to embrace federal power “is especially unfortunate given the importance of showing respect for the sovereign States that comprise our Federal Union.” Our federalist system, properly understood, allows California and a growing number of other States to decide for themselves how to safeguard the health and welfare of their citizens.”

  and this:
  “In the early days of the Republic, it would have been unthinkable that Congress could prohibit the local cultivation, possession, and consumption of marijuana.”

  Here’s a link to Thomas’ dissent (you can find the other opinions as well):
  http://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/03-1454.ZD1.html

• 

  Ed Byrnes on July 21 at 3:59 p.m.

  Cannabis policy is what is making this alleged liberal into a self proclaimed libertarian.

  In case some of you noticed I rarely directly defend President Obama, and that is because of his absolute duplicity on cannabis law. Specifically he campaigned saying “I did inhale, that was the point” and soon after his inauguration he declared that the War on Drugs was over.

  The overwhelming majority of victims of the war on cannabis are younger than 30 so in my humble opinion Barrack Obama courted the youth votes by trying to seem cool and since his inauguration his appointee, Eric Holder, has led the most draconian USDOJ regarding cannabis laws since the Mitchell-Kleindeinst-Richardson DOJs under the Nixon administration, except that the aforementioned Nixon AGs most likely held states’ rights in greater esteem.

  If I were a young person I would feel acrimony toward President Obama for his having misled us about his intentions around cannabis policy.

  Obama apologists will state that he and AG Holder must enforce the law though they have demonstrated that they are not required to by declining to enforce the Defense of Marriage Act (which I am against since the government has no business in anyone’s bedroom any more than they do in anyone’s bong). Obama also appointed Michelle Leonhart to continue as the DEA Administrator despite her record of ignoring, in fact trying to thwart, science around cannabis.

  I hope that John Huntsman somehow prevails in the Republican primary contests since I will otherwise have to hold my nose very tightly as I vote for Obama,

  Ed

• 

  detroitdude on July 21 at 4:31 p.m.

  Waste of my hard earned tax dollars enforcing these stupid laws. Legalize, tax, and sell. Creates revenue for the states, problem solved, no one has to worry if they want to get stoned and eat a bag of cheetos while they watch The Wall.

  I think, should he get re-elected, Obama will probably remove cannabis from being a schedule 1 drug. Being the crafty politician he is, he is probably waiting to be re-elected first.

• 

  Ed Byrnes on July 21 at 5:56 p.m.

  I hope that you are right detroitdude.

  Ed