No Jail For Kent County Corrections Officer Who Pleaded Guilty In Marijuana Butter Case

[bobandtorey]

GRAND RAPIDS, MI – The surviving corrections officer who pleaded guilty to charges related to the discovery of marijuana butter at his home will not face jail but must pay a $10,000 fine and potentially testify against two other officers.

Brian Tennant, a 20-year veteran of the Kent County Sheriff’s Department, told a judge Thursday, Dec. 4, that he never meant to break the law.

“I pick up prescriptions for my wife,” Tennant told Kent County Circuit Judge Dennis Leiber. “I believed I was operating within the law.”

Tennant said when police came to his home to arrest him, he assumed they were there because something had happened to one of his children.

Tennant, 45, was arrested at his Wyoming home on March 17, the same night members of the Kent Area Narcotics Enforcement Team raided the home of Alyssa and Timothy Scherzer and the home of fellow corrections officer Timothy Bernhardt.

The investigation started with a tip from the U.S. Postal Service that marijuana was mailed to the Scherzer home. According to police, pounds of marijuana-infused butter were seized in the course of the investigation.

After detaining Tennant, police arrested Todd VanDoorne and Michael Frederick, both veteran corrections officers.

Police showed up at the Tennants' home and demanded to see the Michigan medical marijuana card of his wife before they arrested the corrections officer.

Police say Tennant’s wife, Christine Tennant, was a medical marijuana patient under the caregiving of Timothy Scherzer. Brian Tennant does not have a medical marijuana card, according to court records.

“We are extremely disappointed that the sheriff and prosecutor teamed up in a witch hunt to prosecute four distinguished corrections officers who had no idea that marijuana butter had been ruled illegal by the Michigan Court of Appeals in a twisted bit of logic,” said attorney Jeffrey Crampton.

Crampton told the judge that the law is so confusing that it has even frustrated the chief judge of the Michigan Supreme Court. The attorney said the prosecution was not about the law, but about the personal preferences of the sheriff and prosecutor.

“(Tennant) has already paid for it with his job, his pension and his reputation,” Crampton said. “In a month or so, he will lose his license.”

But Leiber countered that as a graduate of the Michigan State University criminal justice program and a longtime officer of the law, Tennant had a heightened responsibility to know and follow the law.

“Is it your position that ignorance of the law is an excuse for a Kent County Sheriff’s Department employee?” Leiber asked.

Assistant Kent County Prosecutor James Benison said that the prosecution was not a witch hunt and that Tennant could potentially avoided problems if he had come to his union representative or someone in the department administration prior to having an admitted having four pounds of marijuana butter in his possession.

Tennant pleaded guilty to maintaining a drug house on Oct. 14, the same plea entered by Bernhardt the same month. However, Bernhardt was found dead in his home Nov. 16.

The Scherzers were also sentenced last month to fines and probation.

VanDoorne and Frederick are appealing a Kent County Circuit Judge Dennis Leiber’s ruling that the late night search and interrogation of the officers without a warrant was proper. The appeal resulted in the delay of the officers’ trial.

[t-pain]

another crummy lawyer who doesnt fight the COA ruling.

[bobandtorey]

another crummy lawyer who doesnt fight the COA ruling.

He knows theirs no winning at the C.O.A 

 

How many wins from them Zero as far as protecting our cannabis rights

[t-pain]

ter beek won in coa.

[bobandtorey]

Right 

But he is a Lawyer 

[kentuckyrain]

Can someone sum this up in a sentence or two? So basically, an officer's wife has a card, the officer had 4 pounds? I am confused,,,

[t-pain]

husband would pick up butter for his wife. from her registered caregiver.

 

they took a plea deal.

[kentuckyrain]

Thank u T Pain, sorry I have reached my quota of positive votes? lol Or I would Like your response. 

[bobandtorey]

GRAND RAPIDS, MI -- A pair of Kent County corrections officers accused of illegally having marijuana butter, despite possession of state medical marijuana cards, say the drug has helped their medical conditions.

Todd VanDoorne and Mike Frederick both testified Wednesday, Jan. 21, in a Kent County courtroom in an effort to convince a judge they were complying with state Medical Marijuana Act.

The two officers were among four corrections officers charged with a drug offense after police with the Kent Area Narcotics Enforcement Team raided homes in March.

Attorneys for VanDoorne and Frederick contend the officers have done nothing wrong.

During an evidentiary hearing Wednesday, both men testified they properly secured medical marijuana cards from Dr. David Sova before they began getting marijuana butter from producer Timothy Scherzer.

The men knew Sova, a pain management physician, through his work as a contracted medical services provider at the jail.

VanDoorne has neck pain and underwent surgery in 2010 where vertebrae were fused together. He used prescribed pain killers, but they made him lethargic and sometimes angry.

"The medical marijuana was excellent, completely different from the narcotics. I could still do things, still carry on daily chores," he said.

Frederick, who has complications from diabetes, told a similar story. He deals with neuropathy which caused muscles in his legs to severely cramp.

Grand Rapids attorney Bruce Block said the crux of the case centers around the method that both VanDoorne and Frederick were using to ingest the marijuana.

Block said they essentially had too much on hand at their homes to comply with the state's marijuana law. VanDoorne figured he had about one pound of marijuana butter, as well as 20-25 marijuana brownies when the raid happened.

State law says a marijuana patient can only have 2.5 ounces of usable marijuana. And it also doesn't mention marijuana "edibles" at all, so they're essentially not covered under the state's marijuana act.

Since the four corrections officers were charged in March, two have pleaded guilty to a marijuana charge.

Brian Tennant, 45, was sentenced to five years probation and a $10,000 fine in December on a charge of maintaining a drug house.

Timothy Bernhardt also pleaded guilty. However, Bernhardt was found dead in his home Nov. 16 in what has been ruled by a medical examiner as a suicide.

The evidentiary hearing is expected to continue Thursday with more testimony from Frederick.

Frederick and VanDoorne have asked for a "stay" in their cases pending an appeal to the state Supreme Court on whether a late-night search and interrogation of the four officers was proper.

But Kent County Judge Dennis Leiber denied the request Wednesday.

 

http://www.mlive.com/news/grand-rapids/index.ssf/2015/01/kent_county_corrections_office_6.html

[YesMichigan]

Grand Rapids attorney Bruce Block said the crux of the case centers around the method that both VanDoorne and Frederick were using to ingest the marijuana.

 

State law says a marijuana patient can only have 2.5 ounces of usable marijuana. And it also doesn't mention marijuana "edibles" at all, so they're essentially not covered under the state's marijuana act.

 

http://www.mlive.com/news/grand-rapids/index.ssf/2015/01/kent_county_corrections_office_6.html

 

Is this an attorney you want defending you? I don't think this guy has even glanced at the law yet - his information probably comes from what he has read on MLive.

[t-pain]

you should have seen his earlier comments yesmichigan. bruce block said his clients were GUILTY! to the press!

 

its like they hired a lawyer to fight against themselves.

Edited January 22, 2015 by t-pain

[YesMichigan]

you should have seen his earlier comments yesmichigan. bruce block said his clients were GUILTY! to the press!

 

its like they hired a lawyer to fight against themselves.

 

I will look for them. If you find them first please post.

 

Maybe he is looking for a spot with the Prosecutor's office. He misinterprets the law well enough.

 

But hey, the Michigan Legislature doesn't know what is the Michigan State Constitution as it pertains to the legislation they are allowed to pass.

[bobandtorey]

 Michigan State Constitution Whats that 

 

but i will keep trying to get everyone out to vote 

[bobandtorey]

In KentCounty circuit court, Judge Dennis Lieber has concluded the evidentiary hearing against two KentCounty jail guards accused of using medical marijuana in the form of butter to treat their

 

own medical problems.  The two claim immunity from prosecution because they are registered medical marijuana users.  Judge Lieber says he will decide if that defense is allowable, and issue

 

his opinion in written form.   The judge gave no indication when he will hand down that ruling. 

Read more: http://www.woodradio.com/articles/wood-news-125494/kent-county-judge-to-decide-possession-13179671#ixzz3PkdOyynq