Ex-owner of S.F. pot club gets home detention Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-b

[JackTheGrower]

I remember this a little..


Ex-owner of S.F. pot club gets home detention

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/09/09/BAKN19KSA8.DTL&tsp=1#ixzz0QhMye14W

(09-09) 17:47 PDT SAN FRANCISCO -- The former owner of a San Francisco medical marijuana dispensary that federal agents raided in 2002 was sentenced to six months of home confinement today after pleading guilty to drug and tax charges.

U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer did not impose a prison term on Kenneth Hayes, who spent about six weeks in jail after he was returned from Romania in December to face the federal charges. Prosecutors initially sought a prison sentence but later dropped that request and agreed to home detention and three years of probation.

Hayes, 41, of San Bruno, left the Bay Area for Canada in 2002, six weeks before the raid on the Harm Reduction Center at 52 Sixth St. He was denied political asylum in Canada and went to Romania, where he lived until his arrest and conviction on unrelated drug charges last year. After his release, he returned to California to face the federal charges.

Co-defendant Ed Rosenthal, a prominent marijuana advocate, was convicted in 2003 of supplying pot plants to the Harm Reduction Center that he grew at an Oakland warehouse. Breyer placed him on probation, despite a federal law requiring at least a five-year sentence, saying Rosenthal had reasonably believed he was acting legally as an agent of Oakland's medical marijuana program.

Hayes' lawyer, William Panzer, said Hayes had worked closely with San Francisco authorities in setting up and operating the Sixth Street storefront.

Hayes pleaded guilty in April to maintaining a building where marijuana was distributed and filing a false tax return. His sentence includes payment of back taxes, penalties and interest, which total $20,754, Panzer said.

Hayes "made a series of poor choices, but I think he's paid for it," Breyer said at today's sentencing hearing, which attended by the defendant's family and friends. The judge said the case involved "areas of law that may undergo a change."

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/09/09/BAKN19KSA8.DTL&tsp=1#ixzz0QhMbce8j

 

[FreedomFGHTR]

The judge said the case involved "areas of law that may undergo a change.

This is a federal judge in a federal court! He sure as hell isn't talking about state laws. Maybe people would be wise to wait for the feds next move instead of trying to fuck up the otherwise good laws we have in the state.

By the way the case in question occured BEFORE SB 420 and its bullshit restrictions.

 

[JackTheGrower]

With all my disabilities aside, I see the issues in people I know here in Stanislaus county.

I don't think there is no better way to get the old school hippie/pot haters to accept change except to tell them it's legal and they are free to hate in the privacy of their own home.

I'm happy the Dude isn't in prison.. I wish he was totally free.

 

[Hash Zeppelin]

It is always good to see the mandatory minimums taken away.