Two Modesto men found guilty in medical marijuana case
The Modesto Bee | Two Modesto men found guilty in medical marijuana case
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.
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,” [Scarmazzo’s attorney] said after the verdict. But neither he nor [Montes’ attorney] were able to use state law as a defense because under federal law, marijuana is illegal.
A key part of the trial was a hip-hop video that featured Scarmazzo uttering the line “(expletive) 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 [Scarmazzo’s attorney] 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.
Dispensary owners in California are forbidden from even saying the words “medical” and “marijuana” in the same paragraph when they go on trial in federal court. The juror listed in this case isn’t the first to be appalled at the mandatory sentences that people can receive for operating legally under state law.; most jurors, once they are told the case involves medical marijuana, are usually distraught that they were forced to render a verdict without knowing the entire story.
This further underscores why we need your help to pass Ron Paul’s HR5842 to end the DEA raids in California and the other eleven medical marijuana states, and why we need to elect a president in November who promises to end these raids.
Tags: California, dispensaries, Luke Scarmazzo, Modesto, Ricardo Montes
