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A Santa Cruz man has been arrested and charged in what sheriff's deputies say is one of the county's biggest drug busts this year.
But the man's attorney says his client sold only to a medical marijuana club and, in doing so, should not be punished.
A six-month probe by the sheriff's Marijuana Enforcement Team led investigators to the door of 47-year-old Edwin Hoey, where they reported finding nearly 100 pounds of marijuana packaged to sell and more than $35,000 cash in addition to nearly $500,000 stashed in a storage locker.
Sgt. Steve Carney said Hoey, whose address was not released, had been involved in marijuana trafficking and sales for more than a decade.
Hoey, who has lived in Santa Cruz for 27 years, was arrested at his home Friday and charged Tuesday with possession of marijuana for sale. Investigators said they are still pursuing a case that he sold marijuana commercially and laundered hundreds of thousands of dollars generated by drug sales.
In court Tuesday, Hoey pleaded innocent.
Defense attorney Ben Rice said his client sold to a local medical marijuana club.
"What's silly here and really sad is the law is really gray," Rice said.
There is little precedent on the legality of marijuana sales to pot clubs under California's Proposition 215, which legalized medicinal marijuana use in 1996.
Prosecutor Pamela Kato said Hoey's actions were still illegal.
"He's clearly a man who made a million on quote-unquote medicinal marijuana," Kato said.
Kato also alleged Hoey's sales weren't restricted to medical marijuana clubs.
Hoey's arrest comes at the end of a record year for pot plant seizure, as deputies found more than 43,000 marijuana plants growing outdoors — most in the Santa Cruz Mountains.
Investigators said they haven't determined if the marijuana Hoey is accused of selling came from local growers or elsewhere.
"He's got a good source somewhere," Carney said.
Carney said deputies also found drug tallies, a commercial money counter, scales, packaging material and other evidence of drug sales in his house, almost $490,000 cash socked away in a storage locker maintained by Hoey and about $317,000 in his bank accounts.
Information collected during the investigation of a suspected hard drug dealer tipped sheriff's investigators off to Hoey's alleged activity, Carney said. He would not elaborate on that connection.
"There's a lot of evidence to show he's been doing it a long time," Carney said.
The city's Measure K, which residents approved in November and makes most marijuana crimes the lowest priority for city police, does not apply to Hoey's case. Measure K doesn't go into effect until February and regulates only city police operations.
Hoey is being held in County Jail on $1 million bail. Rice will ask a judge Friday to reduce Hoey's bail or release him on his own recognizance.
Newshawk: User - 420 Magazine
Source: Santa Cruz Sentinel
Pubdate: 13 December 2006
Author: Jennifer Squires
Copyright: 2006 Santa Cruz Sentinel
Contact: jsquires@santacruzsentinel.com
Website: Santa Cruz Sentinel: Breaking News, Sports, Business, Entertainment & Scotts Valley News
But the man's attorney says his client sold only to a medical marijuana club and, in doing so, should not be punished.
A six-month probe by the sheriff's Marijuana Enforcement Team led investigators to the door of 47-year-old Edwin Hoey, where they reported finding nearly 100 pounds of marijuana packaged to sell and more than $35,000 cash in addition to nearly $500,000 stashed in a storage locker.
Sgt. Steve Carney said Hoey, whose address was not released, had been involved in marijuana trafficking and sales for more than a decade.
Hoey, who has lived in Santa Cruz for 27 years, was arrested at his home Friday and charged Tuesday with possession of marijuana for sale. Investigators said they are still pursuing a case that he sold marijuana commercially and laundered hundreds of thousands of dollars generated by drug sales.
In court Tuesday, Hoey pleaded innocent.
Defense attorney Ben Rice said his client sold to a local medical marijuana club.
"What's silly here and really sad is the law is really gray," Rice said.
There is little precedent on the legality of marijuana sales to pot clubs under California's Proposition 215, which legalized medicinal marijuana use in 1996.
Prosecutor Pamela Kato said Hoey's actions were still illegal.
"He's clearly a man who made a million on quote-unquote medicinal marijuana," Kato said.
Kato also alleged Hoey's sales weren't restricted to medical marijuana clubs.
Hoey's arrest comes at the end of a record year for pot plant seizure, as deputies found more than 43,000 marijuana plants growing outdoors — most in the Santa Cruz Mountains.
Investigators said they haven't determined if the marijuana Hoey is accused of selling came from local growers or elsewhere.
"He's got a good source somewhere," Carney said.
Carney said deputies also found drug tallies, a commercial money counter, scales, packaging material and other evidence of drug sales in his house, almost $490,000 cash socked away in a storage locker maintained by Hoey and about $317,000 in his bank accounts.
Information collected during the investigation of a suspected hard drug dealer tipped sheriff's investigators off to Hoey's alleged activity, Carney said. He would not elaborate on that connection.
"There's a lot of evidence to show he's been doing it a long time," Carney said.
The city's Measure K, which residents approved in November and makes most marijuana crimes the lowest priority for city police, does not apply to Hoey's case. Measure K doesn't go into effect until February and regulates only city police operations.
Hoey is being held in County Jail on $1 million bail. Rice will ask a judge Friday to reduce Hoey's bail or release him on his own recognizance.
Newshawk: User - 420 Magazine
Source: Santa Cruz Sentinel
Pubdate: 13 December 2006
Author: Jennifer Squires
Copyright: 2006 Santa Cruz Sentinel
Contact: jsquires@santacruzsentinel.com
Website: Santa Cruz Sentinel: Breaking News, Sports, Business, Entertainment & Scotts Valley News
