Tribe Busts Three In Medical Marijuana Raid

[bobandtorey]

A traffic stop of a car leaving a “known drug house” uncovered a bag of marijuana and led to the raid Sunday on a medical marijuana growing operation outside Mt. Pleasant that police said exceeded the plants allowed under state law.

 

 

Three men face charges after the bust at 650 S. Wise Road in Chippewa Township by officers from the Saginaw Chippewa Tribe’s police department, according to court records and a press release issued late Tuesday.

 

 

Besides marijuana and drug-related items, police seized 10 long guns, including one that was loaded in an outbuilding next to a large amount of usable marijuana, police said in court documents.

 

 

“A search warrant was obtained for a location on South Wise Road in Chippewa Township. Upon serving the search warrant, a medical marijuana grow operation was discovered,” the press release said. “An unusually high number of marijuana plants were at the location.”

 

 

Facing charges are John Roy Bendele, 43; Raymond Dangelo Lynn, 20; and Joseph Ryan Terrell, 19. All three were arraigned in Isabella County Trial Court on Monday.

 

 

Police said Bendele is a registered marijuana caregiver under Michigan law and a patient himself, but that the home and property had more plants than allowed for the four patients he could identify in records.

 

 

Officers seized 102 marijuana plants and about 14 pounds of marijuana.

 

 

They said Bendele would be allowed up to 60 plants and 12.5 ounces of usable marijuana under the law.

 

 

Marijuana was found in two outbuildings as well as the kitchen, a bedroom and living room.

 

 

Some plants were found inside a locked growing area, the rest in a travel trailer on the property.

 

 

Bendele, who police said has a previous conviction for breaking-and-entering, faces five felony charges and one misdemeanor.

 

 

He is charged with: Being a felon in possession of a gun, a five-year felony; two counts of manufacture or delivery of marijuana, four years; one count of using a weapon in the commission of a felony, two years; one count of violating the medical marijuana act, two years; and a misdemeanor for maintaining a drug house, two years.

 

 

Lynn faces two felonies and a misdemeanor: delivering or manufacturing marijuana, a four-year felony; possessing a firearm in the commission of a felony, two years; and maintaining a drug house, a two-year misdemeanor. 

 

 

Terrell, who was in the car that was stopped initiating the search of the house and property, is charged with possession of marijuana, a misdemeanor punishable by up to two years in prison.

 

 

Bendele and Lynn both face an initial court hearing on Oct. 8 and a preliminary examination before Judge Eric Janes on Oct. 15.

 

 

Terrell is not yet scheduled for additional court appearances, according to Isabella court records.

 

 

“It is our intention to seek out and expose any individual or group conducting illegal drug operations within our reservation and surrounding lands,” Tribal Chief Steve Pego said in the press release. “We will seek prosecution to the fullest extent of the law. I am proud that we have such a diligent police department and we can count on them to ensure we meet this War on Drugs head on.”

 

http://www.themorningsun.com/general-news/20150930/updated-tribe-busts-three-in-medical-marijuana-raid

[trichcycler]

Holy Moly !  big troubles there

[t-pain]

one count of violating the medical marijuana act, two years

 

there is no such law, unless they mean selling to a non-patient?

 

car driving away from a known drug house? baloney. illegal search no doubt.

[trichcycler]

I love these descriptions like "known drug house" . Really ? then go shut the muddafugga down already !! what the heck! sit around napping on the freeways waiting for someone not to see you while speeding and all the while the known drug house is hooking up more children. Great Work fella's !

[cristinew]

Smart Indians  make  pot  resorts  not bust people,   \

 

A Marijuana resort is planned for South Dakota, so that potusers can openly enjoy a little R&R (rest and reefer in this case).

Reports The Associated Press on Sept. 29, via Fox News: “The Santee Sioux tribe has already proven its business acumen, running a successful casino, a 120-room hotel and a 240-head buffalo ranch on the plains of South Dakota. But those enterprises have not been immune to competition and the lingering effects of the Great Recession, so the small tribe of 400 is undertaking a new venture — opening the nation's first marijuana resort on its reservation.”

Tribal lands have typically focused on hotels in conjunction with casinos. But a marijuana resort could have just as much drawing power, if not more, especially in states that have yet to relax any of its cannabis laws. According to the AP report, the Passamaquoddy tribe in Maine and the Suquamish tribe in Washington are looking to potentially get into the pot resort business as well.

“We want it to be an adult playground,” Santee Sioux tribal President Anthony Reider said. “There's nowhere else in American that has something like this.”

Plans for the resort include a smoker’s lounge, a nightclub, an arcade (because there’s evidently nothing like dragging on a doobie while playing Asteroids) a bar and restaurant, slot machines and even an outdoor venue for bands. (No word on if Rusted Root has been booked yet…)

Since marijuana is illegal in South Dakota – possessing just two ounces is punishable up to a year in jail – the pot will be grown right on the res. Over thirty different strains are planned, including such names as “Gorilla Glue,” “Shot Glass” and “Big Blue Cheese.” It will be sold one gram at a time, which is generally enough for two to four joints. The weed farm and resort is hoping to generate revenues of $2 million per year.

Adds The Inquisitr: “So how are they able to grow and sell pot in the first place? After all, while legal in a handful of states, it’s still prohibited by federal law. But the U.S. Justice Department has a new policy, by which a Native tribe and grow and sell marijuana under the same conditions as states; it doesn’t mean all tribes can now legally get into the business and open a resort.”

A new marijuana growing facility already sits on the Flandreau Santee Sioux Reservation. The high times are underway, though the incoming administration could certainly make an effort to reverse the DOJ's ruling that made pot cultivation permissable on tribal land.

“This is not a fly-by-night operation,” commented Jonathan Hunt, vice president of Monarch Consulting Firm and the tribe’s chief grower. “Tribal leaders want to show the state how clean, how efficient, how proficient, safe and secure this is as an operation. We are not looking to do anything shady.”

According to the Daily Mail, the Santee Sioux hope to use pot in the same way that many tribes rely on casinos — to make money for community services and to provide a monthly income to tribal members. The existing enterprises support family homes, a senior living community, a clinic and a community center offering afterschool programs.