Employees of Mark Emery, So Called "Prince of Pot," Plead Guilty
In a U.S. court last week, Michelle Rainey and Gregory Keith Williams both pleaded guilty to Conspiracy to Manufacture Marijuana. Rainey, 38, and Williams, 54, both of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, voluntarily appeared in Seattle to resolve the charges stemming from a 2005 grand jury indictment. Under the terms of the plea agreements with Rainey and Williams, both sides will recommend sentences of two years probation. Sentencing is scheduled before U.S District Court Judge Ricardo S. Martinez on July 17, 2009. The lead defendant in the indictment, marijuana seed distributor Marc Emery, remains in Canada, fighting extradition to the United States on the charges. Emery bills himself as the “Prince of Pot.”According to facts recounted in her plea agreement, Rainey worked for Emery from 1998 to 2005. Rainey assisted with Emery’s mail order marijuana seed business filling orders that came in by mail. At Emery’s instruction, Rainey sent seeds, as well as growing instructions, out to customers of which 75% of the customers were located in the United States. Between 2003 and 2005, Rainey earned as much as $1,000 per week mailing out the seeds and information.
According to his plea agreement, Williams handled the phone orders for the business and the wire transfer information customers used for payment. Williams also worked at the seed desk, selling seeds directly to customers who came into Emery’s store. On numerous occasions in 2004, Williams sold seeds to a DEA undercover agent. At Emery’s request, Williams authored the growing instructions that were mailed out with the marijuana seeds. Williams income from the business increased over time and by 2005, Emery was paying him $300.00 per day.
Williams verified that the information posted on the Emery website claiming that Emery took in more than $3,000,000 annually selling marijuana seeds was in fact accurate. Emery claims to have sold more than 4,000,000 marijuana seeds, three-quarters of those to customers in the United States. Emery is scheduled for an extradition hearing in Canada on June 1, 2009.
This case was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration and U.S Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Read the Opposing Views debate, Should the U.S. Continue the War on Drugs?
Employees of Mark Emery, So Called "Prince of Pot," Plead Guilty
Thank You for your Comment
We review all comments before they're posted. For more on our comment policy, please see our FAQ.
We could use a well-run business like that here.
Sounds to me like the description of an excellent business, well run, with good customer service and good products, that didn't even ask for bailouts.
They should be getting a commendation from the Chamber of Commerce. Or better yet, the industry should be opened up here in the United States so that it would be part of our legitimate economy .
I paid in tens of thousands of dollars to a mutual fund for my retirement and they lost half of it. Yet that business is somehow deemed legitimate. What a crazy world and what a stupid public policy.
- DrugWarRant
May 8, 2009 10:40PM
Reply to this Recommend
(0)
Thank You for your Comment
We review all comments before they're posted. For more on our comment policy, please see our FAQ.
Business is good
Yup,we are in desperate need of more employment,and we also need more money to pay Mexico to fight the drug cartels,and our prisons are already overflowing so just keep that printing press rolling.
And now that the federal government has acted like medical marijuana is allowed,we'll need more money to pay off all the South
American countries to let us destroy their ripening pot crops now,but wait,there is a glitch. Now the same countries that were allowing us to fight the drug dealers are scratching their heads,is it pot,or is it medicine ? If it's medicine,shouldn't they be harvesting it and offering it to the world as medicine? Oh,Mr Obama,what a can of worms you have opened. Better print some more money,this may get expensive,and that is so much fun. And the new budget for the DEA is how many billion,no prob,roll the presses. And we have to pay the anti-drug cartels too keep the propaganda flowing.
And that 1.4 Billion too Mexico,to fight the Drug Cartels,mustn't forget to print that money either. Wonder if hiring more people too print money will lower the unemployment rate?
The chance of employment looks good also if you have prison guard experience. Since our President promised the same America's leaders that he would lower the demand for illicit drugs
in the United States,and that the War on Drugs is going on,regardless of its lack of results,we have too assume that intends
business as usual,which means locking up even more people.
If this wasn't such an atrocious, outrageous waste of energy and
our tax dollars,this would make a good reality show.
- Clay
May 9, 2009 6:22PM
Reply to this Recommend
(0)
Thank You for your Comment
We review all comments before they're posted. For more on our comment policy, please see our FAQ.