Alleged Marijuana Dealer Says Police Stole 'medicine'

[bobandtorey]

The man apparently at the center of an alleged million-dollar marijuana distribution investigation says officers “stole … medicine” to line their own pockets.

Darryl Berry, of Howell Township, also alleges officers with the Western Wayne Narcotics and Criminal Investigations Unit used weak civil forfeiture laws to seize his personal property — including vehicles, weapons and computers — as well as property from people he says he visited and/or taught how to grow marijuana for medicinal purposes.

“They stole from me,” Berry alleges about undercover narcotics officers who raided his marijuana “garden” and home Sept. 28.

Seized in the investigation from the homes or property of the 12 named in court documents was an estimated 545 plants; about 15 pounds of marijuana; 7 pounds of processed marijuana and suspected marijuana edibles; and $195,983 in cash.

They did what they do in every case. They come in and raid you; they never throw charges on you, but they steal your property,” Berry said. “I’m not a drug dealer. None of my (medical marijuana) patients can even afford to buy it. I give them their year’s worth for free. I get my donations off the rest of the plants.”

As of Friday, no criminal charges have been filed in Livingston County against any of the 12 people, including Berry, listed in court documents as people an undercover officer said are “involved in the growth and distribution of marijuana under the guise of the Medical Marihuana Act.”

However, a civil suit is pending that seeks to seize property — homes, cash, cellphones, computers, vehicles, guns and bank accounts — from each of the 12 people.

A bench trial has been tentatively scheduled in November.

A message to the Michigan attorney general’s office for comment was not returned.

Inspector James Wolf, section commander of the Western Wayne Narcotics and Criminal Investigations Unit, confirmed officers seized property from Berry’s residence under the Michigan Forfeiture Act, but he did not release additional information due to the ongoing investigation.

“(Berry) was served with paperwork, and he will have an opportunity to dispute that in court, just like a criminal case,” the inspector said Friday.

Wolf earlier confirmed that the Western Wayne team’s 15-month investigation involved a “marijuana-distribution operation … (operating) under the disguise of the Michigan Medical Marihuana Act.” However, he has not identified possible suspects or locations police searched.

 

 

 

Howell Township resident Darryl Berry, pictured in a marijuana garden on Crofoot Road in Fowlerville, said he consulted with medical marijuana growers about how to successfully grow marijuana. (Photo: Dan Skye/HIGH TIMES Magazine)

 

An affidavit filed with the court to seize the property identifies the people of interest as Berry, his wife, Amy Berry, and two sons, Dallas Berry and Dalton Berry; as well as Fowlerville residents Jeffrey Michael and Nathan Michael; Gregory resident Joseph Zubor; Howell Township residents Dennis James and Linda James; Genesee County couple Johnny Glenn Cooper and Laurie Cooper; and Norman Webb, of Howell.

Efforts to locate other members of the group were unsuccessful.

The affidavit noted that officers believe those 12 people “are involved in a large-scale marijuana grow operation, cultivating the plants for sale and profit.”

Darryl Berry said he did not sell marijuana, but received “donations” from other caregivers “who have their own patients,” but who lose their gardens in the summer.

“They get a plant from me in October to revamp themselves,” he explained.

Darryl Berry speaks proudly about what he calls his “marijuana garden,” a 20,000-square-foot area surrounded by a 12-foot high fence on his Fisher Road property. He said he had less than 140 marijuana plants that stood about 12 feet tall when undercover narcotics officers raided his garden and home.

He said officers destroyed his home, turning over beds, tables and dumping drawers on the floor.

Darryl Berry said both he and his wife are licensed caregivers under the state’s Medical Marihuana Act and they “were legal” in 2012 when police first raided his home.

Since that time, Darryl Berry said, he has invited police into his garden to ensure that he is meeting the requirements under the law.

Darryl Berry said his knack for growing marijuana plants led him to begin consulting with other growers, including those named in court documents.

“I researched every part of the law and made sure there was no chance I’d be illegal,” he said. “I grew plants. …

“I cut the plant and people hauled it away. … They had unsuccessful gardens (and) I consulted with them,” Darryl Berry noted.

Under the state’s Medical Marihuana Act, which was approved by voters in November 2008, a caregiver can possess up to 2.5 ounces of usable marijuana and may possess up to 12 marijuana plants in an enclosed and locked facility for each registered qualifying patient. A registered caregiver can have up to five registered qualifying patients.

Court documents show that an undercover police agent offered to purchase multiple marijuana plants from Darryl Berry’s outdoor “marijuana garden” as well as other locations on at least five separate occasions in August. The undercover officer said Darryl Berry did not verify whether he had a valid medical marijuana card.

On Sept. 26, a Michigan State Police sergeant executed a “flyover” of four locations officers allege they observed Darryl Berry spending hours at on various days. Those locations were his home on Fisher Road as well as the Michael home on Crofoot Road in Fowlerville; Zubor’s home on Weller Road in Gregory; and the Coopers’ home on Baldwin Road in Fenton.

According to county deed records, Darryl Berry owns the Zubor home.

Police allege Darryl Berry paid “his associates” $50,000 to use their land for his outdoor marijuana grows, but Darryl Berry denies that allegation.

The Michaels family is asking a judge to dismiss the claims against them, alleging “there is no factual allegation … that any of the Michaels sold any marijuana, merely that marijuana was present on their property.”

That hearing is set for Feb. 9 in Brighton.

 

State Police broke through the door into the grow garden to confiscate the marijuana plants Darryl Berry and his wife grow for medical dispensaries, and left the Berrys with nothing but bills and no means to pay them. (Photo: Gillis Benedict/Livingston Daily)

 

After the flyover, Darryl Berry said at least 50 officers raided his home and garden while hundreds were spread throughout the other locations at the same time.

In the end, officers seized 556 large, tree-size plants that Wolf described as being about 8 feet tall and 6 feet wide. One suspect, Wolf said, indicated that each plant could yield between 3 pounds and 6 pounds of marijuana.

In total, that equates to an estimated street value of $500,000 to $1 million if sold in Livingston County.

Darryl Berry estimated officers seized in total about “3,000 pounds of marijuana” that he said would fetch “$7 million to $10 million.”

“They figured out a way to steal from me and that’s what it broke down to,” Darryl Berry said. “They came and robbed me. To them I’m just a drug dealer and they are 200 officers who don’t get paid what they should get paid.”

Darryl Berry alleges police wanted his medical marijuana to sell to dispensaries.

Wolf denies that allegation, saying, “Western Wayne Narcotics (team) does not sell marijuana to dispensaries.”

An undercover officer with the team said officer placed illegal drugs seized into evidence and it is tested at the Michigan State Police crime lab and eventually destroyed.

Darryl Berry maintains he’s an innocent man. He said he’s started a GoFundMe page — www.gofundme.com/re772qv4 — to raise money to replace what “police stole” from him.

“To them, I’m a sacrificial lamb,” he said.

 

http://www.livingstondaily.com/story/news/local/community/howell/2016/01/25/alleged-marijuana-dealer-says-police-stole-medicine/79198854/

 

[t-pain]

An undercover officer with the team said officer placed illegal drugs seized into evidence and it is tested at the Michigan State Police crime lab and eventually destroyed.

 

 

the author of that article should consider more proof reading.

[Restorium2]

 $195,983 in cash.

 

That's a lotta cash. Hopefully he can explain where it came from and can show it was either tax free or he paid taxes on it. 

[bobandtorey]

Most of you that have known me for several years know that I was in the hot tub business for a long time. I used to cover several states as a rep. I was married for 20 yrs and she filed for divorce in fall of 2004. It took two years to settle, but after the trial I was awarded the house and my kids. My oldest son started having extreme panic attacks and anxiety so bad that after he graduated he went almost two years to where he couldn't even walk out onto our deck. We had to have a counselor come to the home, once a week, for several years. In 2009, my ex mother in law was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer and was given 3-6 months to live. Since neither of her daughters talked to her I looked for a house for her to move from Kentucky so I could have her closeby. She insisted that she wouldn't move without all of her dogs (12). I found her a nice home, that she bought, and my wife Amy, two friends, and myself went to Kentucky and moved her here. The cancer was inflammatory breast cancer but it had already moved to several places in her body, including several brain tumors. It had paralyzed one of her legs so she had a walker and couldn't get around by herself.

We went numerous times to cancer treatment centers in Chicago. We went to Indianapolis for radio surgery to zap some of the tumors out of her brain. We then found experts in those fields in Michigan so that we didn't have to travel so far. With my son's issues and taking care of her, her horses, and 12 dogs, her groceries and every ologist that you can think of, it was a 5 day a week responsibility. Needless to say, I couldn't work on the road anymore.  I had to find another way to support my family and the other friends that were living with me, that had lost their homes because of the economy.

In late 2011 I built a huge structure in my backyard and started growing Medical Marijuana in late May of 2012 to pay the bills.   I researched the laws to make sure that everything that I was doing would be totally legal.  The state police came out a couple of times to inspect that I was totally legal and they confirmed that I was.

On Sept 28th, 2015 the State Police task force raided my home and 4 of my friends' homes simultaneously and took all of us to jail (including my two boys which had nothing to do with the grow). We were under our legal limit of plants. When I got out 3 days later I got home to find that they not only seized our entire garden, they had taken all of our vehicles, computers, cell phones, tv's, 4 wheeler, and had seized all of the money in our accounts and froze them. Even any business accounts that we needed to operate our everyday life with employees. They totally demolished our home. Every drawer was pulled out, dumped and the drawers thrown around. Pictures were taken off the wall, our couches tipped over and bottoms sliced open. Everything was taken out of closets and thrown everywhere. They had hit my miniature australian shepherd in the eye and my ex wife had to take her to the vet since we had no vehicle or money. Her eye has to be removed because the damage is too extensive. 

Why????? Our plants were in total conformity. They had come to my home to inspect every year, and this time they came for money.  They didn't destroi our plants.  They used the tree baler to bale them and they had a semi haul them away.  Michigan's laws are the worst in the nation for seizures.  The police get to keep the money from seizures and they don't have to account for what they do with any of the money.  Since there are over 200 dispensaries in the local area they can move it through those and keep all of the cash.  It was just plain armed robbery!!!!!!  The next week, it passed through the Michigan state govt to make seizures tougher and Gov. Snyder signed it into law in late October. We were served with court papers early October saying that we only had 21 days for a lawyer to file paper work to stop the sale of everything seized. If you don't you can never get it back, even if charges are never filed!!!!!! They hav not filed criminal charges but have filed the civil case to keep everything that they stole and try to get all of our homes.  This case will take over a year and cost each of us at least $50k to defend or they get to keep it all.  That's why they take everything you have so you have no way of fighting them.  It's the most crooked situation I've ever heard of!!!!  So they take your livelihood, your vehicles, your money, and tell you that if you can't hire an attorney right away you will never get your stuff back.  All of us are in the same situation as far as not being able to go forward with a legal case.  They are trying to extort money from us just to get our vehicles back so we can go to work.  We haven't been charged but have to buy our vehicles back from them.   I'm sure it will be the same way to keep our homes.  We have to be able to pay our bills or we'll lose our homes to foreclosure.  I've owned my house for 25 yrs.  There are several of us that will have to figure out how to defend ourselves.  They want to submit you....take everything from you....so that you don't have any choice but to plead out to something that makes their armed robbery look legit.

 

https://www.gofundme.com/re772qv4

[bobandtorey]

 $195,983 in cash.

 

That's a lotta cash. Hopefully he can explain where it came from and can show it was either tax free or he paid taxes on it. 

 

 

We were under our legal limit of plants. Lol ?

[Restorium2]

Quasi legality becomes more and more dangerous the more successful you are. This guy was very successful. A train wreck that anyone else could see coming a mile away. 

[t-pain]

posing in high times didn't help

[t-pain]

enough blaming the victim. they took everything from this guy

[Restorium2]

enough blaming the victim. they took everything from this guy

Who is blaming the victim? 

 

I think our comments are more for the ones who didn't get caught yet, rather than smearing the victim. Right?

[beourbud]

There are thousands of grows like this in Michigan, every year.

Higher Quality

Higher Yeilds

Higher Margins

Higher Customers

Happier Patients

 

All at a tiny fraction of the cost of indoor.

 

Michigan Outdoors is theshit.

Michigan climate is unique and Michigan has the best pharmers.

 

The Solution again here is to repeal the prohibition on cannabis completely, Abrogate

 

Let's bring those dollars above board Open the banks to canna biz

Create a fertile soil for a free market to blossom. Not a monopoly of legal lies.

 

Cannabis is the industry Michigan will drive into the future.

Edited January 26, 2016 by beourbud

[Wild Bill]

Berry said. “I’m not a drug dealer. None of my (medical marijuana) patients can even afford to buy it. I give them their year’s worth for free. I get my donations off the rest of the plants.”

 

“I researched every part of the law and made sure there was no chance I’d be illegal,”

 

State Police broke through the door into the grow garden to confiscate the marijuana plants Darryl Berry and his wife grow for medical dispensaries

 

 

WTF!?  What world do these people live in?

[Restorium2]

There are thousands of grows like this in Michigan, every year.

Higher Quality

Higher Yeilds

Higher Margins

Higher Customers

Happier Patients

 

All at a tiny fraction of the cost of indoor.

 

Michigan Outdoors is theshit.

Michigan climate is unique and Michigan has the best pharmers.

 

The Solution again here is to repeal the prohibition on cannabis completely, Abrogate

 

Let's bring those dollars above board Open the banks to canna biz

Create a fertile soil for a free market to blossom. Not a monopoly of legal lies.

 

Cannabis is the industry Michigan will drive into the future.

To be totally honest I think real legalization would kill a business like this that uses the dams in place to make a lot of money. Once it doesn't take huge balls to do this it will be less lucrative and dangerous. In other words; when everyone can do it then it will spread out the profits among the many. Less victims and also less people getting rich. 

[bobandtorey]

WTF!?  What world do these people live in?

 

 

Under a Rock ?

 

PS don't forget the go fund me page 

Edited January 26, 2016 by bobandtorey

[medmanmike]

WTF!?  What world do these people live in?

Sounds like a classic case of smoking to much of your own sheet, if you get my drift.

 

The civil forfeiture laws suck, and I feel for them. but what in the hell were they thinking??

 

This reminds me of the adage - and I may not get this exactly right, but if you tell a lie repeatedly, before you know it, it becomes the truth.

[trichcycler]

I dunno about this, but the optical illusion of that giant hasp is pretty cool

 

he wasn't hiding, somebody told him his actions were allowed, cops, www, lawyer imo

[Kingdiamond]

This guy is a joke everything he did was illegal not saying busting anyone for cannabis is right but cmon  this guy was a profiteer who blatenley grew and possesed way more than allowed by law he needs to keep his mouth shut and pray they dont charge him.

[Wild Bill]

This is what they use so they can say,"See, we need more regulation!"

[Willy]

 $195,983 in cash.

 

That's a lotta cash. Hopefully he can explain where it came from and can show it was either tax free or he paid taxes on it. 

Should a buried it, out back in the trees, or in a hollow stump.. hide it and use what you need discretely, too much cash for a drawer obviously. well to me it is. Then again I haven't seen that much for 20+ yrs.

[+Malamute]

"He is just a Caregiver..." 

 

Then ya wonder why the legislature thinks CG's are a problem.

 

 Sigh'

[free420country]

Since when is 21 pounds legal? Its guys like this that make us all look bad..... 3 pounds per plant is all about making money

[semicaregiver]

"Darryl Berry estimated officers seized in total about “3,000 pounds of marijuana” that he said would fetch “$7 million to $10 million.” And he believed 3,000 lbs was legal????

 

There is a great quote in Cervante's bible that basically says to the effect, " Once you begin believing that what you are doing is legal you get in trouble".   

[Wild Bill]

Is 3000 lbs. a realistic estimate or a cop estimate?

[Digitalmixx187]

I think Darryl there got busted with way more plants, and product than he was allowed, and then once he got caught he try's to tug at the heartstrings of the good growers and proponents of Medical Marijauna culture, he wants us to side with him and stand behind him, but he was obviously breaking the law. Idk just my 2¢

[trichcycler]

they often do just that ^^  come here after their dispensary operations are busted,  beg for money and assistance, and move along....Nobody should be in jail for a plant, but some people just cannot keep heir greed in check.

 

3000 lbs may be an estimate of the wet weight of the trees?

[t-pain]

remember, police will count leaves in the trash or on the floor as a plant. thats the definition of marihuana

 

(4) "Marihuana" means all parts of the plant Cannabis sativa L., growing or not; the seeds of that plant; the resin extracted from any part of the plant; and every compound, manufacture, salt, derivative, mixture, or preparation of the plant or its seeds or resin. Marihuana does not include the mature stalks of the plant, fiber produced from the stalks, oil or cake made from the seeds of the plant, any other compound, manufacture, salt, derivative, mixture, or preparation of the mature stalks, except the resin extracted from those stalks, fiber, oil, or cake, or any sterilized seed of the plant that is incapable of germination. Marihuana does not include industrial hemp grown or cultivated, or both, for research purposes under the industrial hemp research act.