RI MMJ Patient/Caregiver arrested for Manufacture

Wingman420

Commercial Cultivator
There is another RI Patient and Caregiver who also faces charges this isthe story as reported in the projo.com


Licensed pot grower faces drug charges after fatal shooting

09:15 AM EDT on Friday, April 23, 2010

By Gregory Smith

Journal Staff Writer


Matthew A. Salvato, with lawyer J. Patrick O'Neill, appears in District Court Thursday.

The Providence Journal / Mary Murphy

PROVIDENCE, R.I. – A man who is licensed by the state to grow and smoke marijuana for his hypertension shot and killed a masked thief in his apartment last week.
He was in District Court on Thursday – but not because of the fatal shooting.
The attorney general's office is prosecuting the man, Matthew A. Salvato, 22, of 902 Chalkstone Ave., over the scale and legality of his marijuana growing, not because of the shooting. The police are calling the shooting an apparent case of self-defense and justifiable homicide. A spokesman for the attorney general's office, Michael J. Healey, said all aspects of the incident remain under investigation.
Salvato killed Alex Delasnueces, 26, also of Providence, in his apartment when Salvato interrupted a break-in by the victim, according to the police. Officers found marijuana plants in the house, as well as Delasnueces, who had been shot through the heart.
The police apparently seized all the marijuana, and they charged Salvato with the manufacture of marijuana, possession of marijuana with intent to deliver and two counts of having a firearm in the furtherance of drug offenses. At his arraignment April 16, he was ordered held without bail.
J. Patrick O'Neill, Salvato's lawyer, asked Judge Elaine Bucci at a bail hearing Thursday to release his client on bail with a restriction such as home confinement. But Assistant Attorney General Pamela E. Chin objected – Healey said Salvato is a danger to the community – and Bucci ordered that Salvato continue to be held for now.
Both Salvato and his unnamed downstairs neighbor hold licenses under Rhode Island's new medical-marijuana law and were cultivating crops, according to O'Neill. Their crops were consolidated illegally, the police allege, and the issue is how many plants and seedlings Salvato had. The neighbor has not been charged.
"When you're talking about the medical-marijuana law, math is very important," Healey said.
The neighbor is a state-licensed caregiver, according to O'Neill, which allows him to grow marijuana and possess plants, seedlings and loose marijuana for licensed patients. And one of his patients is Salvato, the lawyer acknowledged.
Salvato himself is both a licensed caregiver and a licensed patient, O'Neill said, apparently allowing him to have even more plants, seedlings and loose marijuana than the neighbor. Annemarie Beardsworth, a spokeswoman for the Rhode Island Department of Health, which oversees the medical-marijuana program, said the law allows the double licensing.

Neither the police, nor the attorney general's office will say how many plants, seedlings and loose marijuana were seized and for what amounts Salvato is being held responsible. Healey said those aspects remain under investigation.
O'Neill, however, said outside court that Salvato legally had 48 mature and immature plants plus a number of seedlings and denied that his client was either illegally possesseing and distributing marijuana.
Bucci scheduled a follow-up hearing for Thursday to thrash out the complexities of the medical-marijuana law and to reconsider bail.
As explained by Beardsworth, the law allows a caregiver to have an unlimited number of patients, but to grow a maximum of 24 plants, to grow "a reasonable amount of unusable marijuana, up to 12 seedlings," and to keep a maximum of 5 ounces of usable loose marijuana.
A patient may have a maximum of 12 plants, a maximum 12 seedlings and a maximum 2.5 ounces of usable loose marijuana.
The incident occurred, according to the police, on the morning of April 15, when Salvato, who lived alone in an apartment that took in the second and third floors of the house, arrived home with his girlfriend. They noticed that some items had been gathered together on the floor, as if they were to be stolen by a thief, and Salvato got his semiautomatic handgun.
He went to the third floor, called out that he had a gun and, as he related to the police, encountered Delasnueces, who wore a bandanna across his face and also carried a handgun. Salvato fired once and Delasnueces tumbled down the stairs and came to rest with his gun beneath him, according to Detective Capt. James Desmarais.
Investigators said they recovered three handguns; it is unclear who owns the third gun.
Healey said it is too early in the investigation to say whether Salvato may face a more serious charge regarding the shooting. But he said the vast majority of suspicious deaths are presented to a grand jury for consideration of an indictment.
To the police, the incident is further evidence of a flawed medical-marijuana law, which they say makes caregivers and patients targets of crime and is overly secretive.
O'Neill said his client had a gun because he lives in a bad neighborhood and because the neighbor had been the victim of a recent break-in.
"He wasn't protecting his, quote, unquote stash," O'Neill said.
gsmith@projo.com
 
This guy is a true Patriot IMO. It's a shame he was growing more than he should have (in the opinion of state officials), but I think our forefathers would approve; he was growing cannabis, and exercising his second amendment right in order to protect his person, property, and his girlfriend.
This story shows a flaw in the current RI MMJ legislation; caregivers and patients are targets of violent crime. The way to fix this is to pass RI Bill 7838, the Taxation and Regulation of Marijuana Act. When anyone can grow his own, no one will need to resort to theft. Lets get it done!
Best of luck to Matt.
 
PatrizioD Thanks for your post.

Great Bill H7838,:bravo: again a step forward but we need to repeal the Prohibition on Cannabis in RI. Thank you for the kind words about my fellow RI MMJ Patient and Caregiver who was allegedly over the limits of 12 plants. The Law in RI must be respected and Mr Salvato will have his day in court. Unfortunately in RI there is a culture that is ignorant of Medical Marijuana's clinical benefits and prejudiced against marijuana period. The culture of Law enforcement has been eradication and arrest for decades so when faced with Legal Medical Marijuana and not being legal scholars nor educated about the new Hawkins Slater Law anyone who has more than "12 rooted plants" is subject to arrest and prosecution. So please when you hear of someone who is charged "over the limits" in an MMJ case do not rush to judgement based on LEO statements or police narratives. Wait until the case goes to trial and let the evidence prove this out and remember we are all innocent until proven guilty by a jury of our peers.
Great Post PatrizioD+Rep
 
I spoke with Mr Salvato's Atty (Patrick O'neil) while in Court on my charges and sent my heartfelt sympathies to his client.

I informed him of my status and that what happens to me may set precedent and may affect all other MMJ cases where honest people within limits are victimized by Police lies, and harassment. I also gave consent for him to contact my attorney and gain knowledge he may find usefull to his case or supply for mine. He is a young man who treated me with respect but he stated "There is a big difference as we have a dead body in the room."
Mr Salvato is NOT charged with the homicide as the man was an armed burgular in his home.
I also informed Mr Oneil that I was released on H/C Bail and am now off the bracelet so he should file for Bail modification and ask the Court that his client be released on traditional bail as I am now on bail after being Busted
 
It really pisses me off to see that they're adding the "drugs n guns" modifier to his charges. Those mandatory sentencing add ons were meant to address drug violence by felons using and selling crack ******* and ****** but have mainly seen to it that countless first time mj possession offenders rot in jail for 20 years plus while the hard core criminals walk out on parole.

The various mandatory sentence and other add ons should be specifically disallowed in cases involving medical mj - otherwise it just gives the cops and feds who want to continue pushing the "drug war" another weapon to use.

There's no telling how the cops are counting this persons crop and as for being a target of crime - do they tell wealthy members of the community not to make so much money or live in nice houses or buy nice things? If we have enough votes to get medical mj passed we should have enough votes to make the elected court / judicial positions and law enforcement positions either step into the future or find a new job.
 
It really pisses me off to see that they're adding the "drugs n guns" modifier to his charges. Those mandatory sentencing add ons were meant to address drug violence by felons using and selling crack ******* and ****** but have mainly seen to it that countless first time mj possession offenders rot in jail for 20 years plus while the hard core criminals walk out on parole.

The various mandatory sentence and other add ons should be specifically disallowed in cases involving medical mj - otherwise it just gives the cops and feds who want to continue pushing the "drug war" another weapon to use.

There's no telling how the cops are counting this persons crop and as for being a target of crime - do they tell wealthy members of the community not to make so much money or live in nice houses or buy nice things? If we have enough votes to get medical mj passed we should have enough votes to make the elected court / judicial positions and law enforcement positions either step into the future or find a new job.


I'm with you all the way ganjaballz, I believe when writing MMJ legislation they should have addressed the fact Police have been weaned and fed on drug arrests and seizure laws to the point they feed on people with MMJ regardless if legal or no, leaving peoples lives in the wake. But then MMJ Law may have never been enacted. It is a work in progress.
 
This guy is a true Patriot IMO. It's a shame he was growing more than he should have (in the opinion of state officials), but I think our forefathers would approve; he was growing cannabis, and exercising his second amendment right in order to protect his person, property, and his girlfriend.
This story shows a flaw in the current RI MMJ legislation; caregivers and patients are targets of violent crime. The way to fix this is to pass RI Bill 7838, the Taxation and Regulation of Marijuana Act. When anyone can grow his own, no one will need to resort to theft. Lets get it done!
Best of luck to Matt.

Full legal will suck.

I can grow 24 plants right now, if it goes full legal, I can grow 3

Still,...I think it's just greedy to abuse the #'s. I retract this if wingman is right and they fudged the #'s
 
Full legal will suck.

I can grow 24 plants right now, if it goes full legal, I can grow 3

Still,...I think it's just greedy to abuse the #'s. I retract this if wingman is right and they fudged the #'s


I cannot say for sure in this case but when I was Busted the Police were all to anxious to lie, falsify police reports, statements and violate my rights and the Law. The Police and Atty General's Office in RI have NO Case Law to use as a guidepost and all are anxious to get their names into the Law Books with a conviction. Any reasonable person would think that written Laws declaring what is legal and the limits therein would suffice to illustrate the intent and spirit of the Hawkins-Slater Law. It is simple the most plants a patient can have is 24 with 12 Mature (flowering) plants and 12 seedling (non flowering) plants with 2.5 ozs of usuable, dried marijuana. A Caregiver may have up to 5 register Patients in his/her care and posess a maximum of 36 plants with 24 mature and 12 seedlings with 5 ozs of usuable marijuana. However when public servants do not know or care to read the Law, innocent citizens are punished needlessly.
I did talk with his Atty and he also stated that Mr Salvato was within limits. The salient in his case is however that the downstairs neighbor (also a caregiver) had a girlfriend (NO card) who signed a statement claiming Mr Salvato offered/promised to sell her MJ at a set price. If true this would be a felony and all MMJ found at his home would then be subject to seizure, hence the Manual Delivery Charge. When charged with growing, selling, or Felony posession of marijuana the charge in RI is as follows: Cultivation, Manufacture, and Manual Delivery of Sch. I Narcotics and they may place other charges upon you.
 
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