Pubdate:  Tue, 11 Jan 2000
Source: Albany Democrat-Herald (OR)
Copyright: 2000 Lee Enterprises
Contact:  600 Lyon St., SW, Albany, OR 97321
Website: http://www.gtconnect.com/dhonline/index.html
Author: Les Gehrett

CONDE SAYS HE'S LIQUIDATING BUSINESS

(Harrisburg)- Embattled businessman, concert promoter and marijuana
activist William Conde said he is liquidating his business inventory
and plans to move to Belize as soon as his legal troubles are resolved.

"It's been unbelievable. How much can you take? How much do you want
to give up?" Conde said. "I'm not giving up the fight, but I have to
do it from a distance."

But Conde said he plans to hold on to his Harrisburg property and
eventually start a business as a wholesale industrial hemp supplier on
the site.

"We will spend eight or nine months a year down south, educate my
children down there. We will return to Linn County for three or four
months a year to operate the World Hemp Festival," Conde said.

For more than a decade, Conde has held music festivals on the grounds
at Conde's Redwood Lumber. These festivals have also included
political activism with speakers decrying the war on drugs.

But over the past two years, there has been increased surveillance at
these events by the Linn County Sheriff's Office and the Valley
Interagency Narcotics Team (VALIANT).

Conde is currently fighting two felony and six misdemeanor charges
which were filed in relation to two festivals held in 1998.

And the Linn County District Attorney's office has filed additional
charges relating to festivals held in 1999. The grand jury indictment
alleges that Conde participated in the delivery of a controlled
substance and hindered prosecution, both felonies. The indictment also
contains misdemeanor allegations of frequenting a place where
controlled substances are used and endangering the welfare of a minor
by knowingly allowing children under the age of 18 to enter and remain
in a place where drug activity was occurring.

These charges have been filed for both the July 16-18, 1999 "World
Hemp Festival" and the Sept. 4-6, 1999 "Rock `N Reggae Revival," for a
total of eight counts.

Attorney Brian Michaels of Eugene said the charges relate solely to
Conde's role as concert organizer.

"He is not accused of selling any drugs, possessing any drugs or
profiting by the sale of any drugs by anyone else," Michaels said.
"The state's allegation is that because Mr. Conde sponsored an event
wherein the Sheriff's Department alleges drug activity occurred, Mr.
Conde must be responsible for that activity."

Michaels was sharply critical of those charges, saying they made as
much sense as holding the county commissioners responsible because
someone was operating a methamphetamine lab within Linn County.

Conde said that since the sheriff's office and VALIANT began
scrutinizing his festivals - including a raid on his home and office
in September 1998 - sales at his business have dropped sharply.

Because of the overwhelming law enforcement presence that drove away
customers, the festival in September 1999 lost $150,000, Conde said.

"It's taken its toll on us. I have to liquidate while I've still got
something to liquidate," Conde said. "Right now, I'm the object of
their attention. Somehow or other the sheriff (Dave Burright) has got
in mind that he has to do me in. .... For me, that's 30 years of work
destroyed. This man destroyed my business, he destroyed my reputation,
he has destroyed my family."

Burright said it was "ridiculous" to blame his office for Conde's
business problems.

"His lumber yard has never had anything to do with this," Burright
said. "The problems are with the surrounding property and his
sponsoring these hemp festivals."

Conde's wife, Ruby, returned to her native country of Belize with the
couple's two children this fall. Conde joined them for a couple of
months, with permission from the court. He said he is almost done
building a new home for the family in Belize, out in the country.

"I'm into living the simpler life," Conde said. 
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