Posted on 07/31/2005 12:35:50 PM PDT by freepatriot32
Marc Emery has built a multimillion-dollar business selling marijuana seeds and paraphernalia while thumbing his nose at authorities in his native Canada, even challenging them to arrest him.
Yesterday, the man known as Canada's "Prince of Pot" was arrested in Halifax, Nova Scotia, on a U.S. indictment charging him with selling millions of dollars worth of marijuana seeds to customers throughout the United States.
Emery, the 47-year-old leader of British Columbia's Marijuana Party, has earned about $3 million a year selling the seeds through his Internet Web site and by mail, federal officials said. Emery and two accomplices, Gregory Williams, 50, and Michelle Rainey-Fenkarek, 34, were arrested by Canadian authorities on a warrant issued by federal officials in Washington state.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeff Sullivan said Emery will be tried in the U.S. because he committed most of his alleged crimes in this country. The Seattle-based office of the Drug Enforcement Administration led the investigation.
Sullivan said Emery will be extradited from Canada to the U.S. for trial, but the process could take anywhere from six months to two years.
While Emery owns a Vancouver, B.C., store that sells marijuana paraphernalia and seeds, police say at least 75 percent of his illegal transactions involved U.S. customers.
Vancouver Police Department spokesman Howard Chow said U.S. authorities are hoping to prosecute Emery in Seattle under an agreement called the Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty, which allows the prosecuting agency to determine where to try defendants. Authorities likely thought there was a better chance of conviction and harsher punishment in the U.S., Chow said.
Emery, a self-styled activist who once called himself a "libertarian capitalist," has become a spokesman for British Columbia's movement to legalize marijuana and is publisher of the Canadian magazine Cannabis Culture.
During a 1996 interview with The Seattle Times, Emery discussed an arrest by Canadian authorities for selling seeds at his Vancouver store. He said he wanted to be arrested to "challenge this stupid law and overturn it."
Neil Boyd, professor of criminology at Simon Fraser University in Burnaby, B.C., said Emery's arrest may not have occurred if U.S. authorities had not been involved.
"It's not unusual for Canadian police to arrest a person who has committed a serious crime in another country. What's unusual about this case is that they are arresting a person for conduct that attracts very serious penalties in one country and potentially no penalties in Canada," Boyd said.
While selling marijuana seeds in Canada is illegal, Boyd says the laws in Canada are not as tough as in the U.S.
Emery opened his store in 1994 and operates Marc Emery Direct, the Web site through which he sells more than 500 types of marijuana seeds with names such as Wonderberry, White Widow and Island Orange. He claims to own the world's largest selection of marijuana seeds with prices for 10 seeds ranging up to several hundred dollars.
All three defendants were charged with conspiracy to distribute marijuana, conspiracy to distribute marijuana seeds and conspiracy to engage in money laundering. The distribution charges alone carry potential punishments of 10 years to life imprisonment.
John Conroy, Emery's attorney in several previous cases, said Rainey-Fenkarek already had appeared in court and was ordered held on $25,000 bail. He said Emery and Williams may appear in court on Tuesday.
"He's [Emery] been arrested for a number of things over the years," Conroy said, but never before on a U.S. charge. The Canadian arrests include marijuana possession — particularly the seeds — for purposes of trafficking. He has been convicted of some charges, and according to his Web site, he was most recently sentenced to 92 days in jail for trafficking and possession.
Officials say Emery sold marijuana to undercover agents of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration both by mail and in person.
Emery has been active in pushing for marijuana legalization. He has run for mayor of Vancouver and his marijuana party's slogan is "overgrowing the government."
Because of treaties between the U.S. and Canada, U.S. attorney Sullivan said, if Emery is convicted in the United States he could request to serve his time in Canada, where he might be eligible for release sooner. Sullivan said U.S. authorities will have a chance to weigh in on his release to Canadian custody but that his transfer would still be possible.
"That's one of the frustrations with prisoners who are sent to Canada," Sullivan said.
Ari Bloomekatz: 206-464-2540 or abloomekatz@seattletimes.com
The Libertarian Party -- they really should relabel themselves since they're just a one issue party. How about the "Weed for All" Party?
absolutly no difference what so ever how safe and secure are you feeling in your home and possesions now long likvethe war on drugs and bongs and seeds and rolling papers
nope
"Do you think that something that occured on Friday hadn't been posted on FR by Sunday afternoon? Yes indeed it is a repeat!"
give it a rest...not everyone caught it first time around
"I had a false arelia.
"The neighborhood kids picked the leaves off the thing until it almost died."
LOL! They must have been disappointed when they smoked it. ;-)
"Emery, a self-styled activist who once called himself a "libertarian capitalist"...one who obviously supported free trade as well. This is going to be fun.
A contemptible person. A rascal. A scamp.
What makes this fellow a bugger?
Being, in the law's winking eye, and mine, a contemptibly scampish rascal.
It's not. It's a perversion of the same line of thought.
Does the US gov. arrest all the fraud artist-wannabees from Nigeria? They do more harm then Mark Emery.
Since 1995, the Secret Service has been working with (perhaps through) the Nigerian police on their 4-1-9 projectt, complete with Secret Service agents at Embassy Lagos.
[. . .]
After Nigeria?s military dictatorship, President Olusegun Obasanjo gained power in 1999. He took no notable measures about fraud or spam until he was re-elected in the peaceful 2003 election said to mark Nigeria?s transition to a civil government. In November 2003, the president announced that he was starting an inquiry into email fraud. In January, more sweeping measures were announced by Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Nigeria's Minister of Finance. She announced that within a few months Nigeria would train police to fight cybercrime, establish a Financial Intelligence Unit, and start an advertising campaign educating Nigerians about fraud. She also promised new legislation addressing money laundering within the next four months. Clearly, fraud is a better priority for the Nigerian government than more benign commericial spam. To show Nigeria's dedication, Minister Okonjo-Iweala announced the arrest of three suspected leaders in the Nigerian spam ring, but she noted that cybercrime can be difficult to fight in a developing country. She suggested that developed countries could help Nigeria fight this kind of fraud. Hopefully, the Secret Service is offering some sort of aid for these new efforts.
I think maybe the answer to your question is . . . yes.
. Liked your answer. I consulted my 1968 Websters. Like so many words in usage, there it has three meanings. As you will know, the first is a Sodomite. The second is a contemptable person. The third is "a fellow, a chap, used humorously or affectionately.
Yes, the way words are used in England can be deceiving. For the benefit of others (not yourself) here is some other usage. "Oh the silly sod, bet on the wrong horse. Oh, the lucky sod bet on the right horse". Also used, "that bastard is a rotten stinking sod". Of course, the original usage of the word sod, is to describe a homosexual- ie: sodamy.
Oh, getting down to the topic, other persons may not realise in their support for this man- a problem. That is he thinks he IS the law, he thinks he makes laws.
Probably a tax dodger to boot, I pray the Americans get their claws on his carcass. LOL
Since I have no idea what fondness this fellow might have for buggery, I thought it best not to go near the probably more widely understood usage. But then, I'm not sure the word is that commonly understood among Americans.
We might be familiar with "don't bug me," or "bug off," but the British "bugger off" would probably leave us looking confused, wondering whether or not someone had insulted us profanely.
Not to show my age too much, but there was a time when a mischievous child might be referred to as "that little bugger . . ." Wonder what the fallout might have been had Hal Roach renamed Our Gang to Little Buggers instead of Little Rascals? :-)
Oh, getting down to the topic, other persons may not realise in their support for this man- a problem. That is he thinks he IS the law, he thinks he makes laws.
Exactly right.
Playing off something Jokar wrote above, this guy was poking a stick at the tiger's eye, and laughing smugly while pinching his tail . . . on both sides of the border.
Enjoyed the post.
Thanks!
If you are going to break the law having a nickname like "Prince of Pot" is a bad idea.
Because the seeds where sold and shipped to the USA. Besides the perp is Canadian so you really shouldn't give a rats bum.
Who cares? The seeds were shipped in Canada not the US. So tell me, what crime was committed in the USA?
Besides the perp is Canadian so you really shouldn't give a rats bum.
I do care about the Canadian but not about any rats bum Rightwing Conspiratr1.
Sometimes . . . I too fail to read the story or try to understand it.
Yesterday, the man known as Canada's "Prince of Pot" was arrested in Halifax, Nova Scotia, on a U.S. indictment charging him with selling millions of dollars worth of marijuana seeds to customers throughout the United States.
If you're thinking what I think you're thinking, I suppose you advocate releasing those extradited, convicted and imprisoned Columbians who committed no crime in the USA.
Bwahahaha
Narco terrorists and their drug mules thinly disguised as
farm workers...spread millions of dollars worth of Mexican Red Meth throughout the midwest...
Their market- US highschool aged kids...
The borders are still wide open while the Freddies chase
Hippies...
why bother...
imo
I think he's more concerned about finding another source of supply. ;-)
I wonder if Canada arrested many folks who provided alcohol to Americans during prohibition?
Yes, I do. And Manuel Noriega too.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.