Pubdate: Fri, 5 Jun 2009
Source: Globe and Mail (Canada)
Copyright: 2009 The Globe and Mail Company
Contact:  http://www.theglobeandmail.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/168
Author: Ian Bailey
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?196 (Emery, Marc)

POT ACTIVIST BOWS TO EXTRADITION

Marc Emery, the self-described "Prince of Pot," says he is willing to 
stop fighting his extradition to the United States on charges of 
selling pot seeds to Americans and plead guilty on a drug charge even 
though it could mean up to eight years in a U.S. jail.

Mr. Emery says his Vancouver lawyer persuaded him that he could not 
win a fight against extradition that began after his 2005 arrest on 
charges of conspiracy to distribute marijuana seeds and marijuana and 
conspiracy to engage in money laundering.

Mr. Emery, 51, said his lawyer told him he had never seen the 
Canadian government refuse a U.S extradition request.

"The [federal] Conservative government under this Prime Minister is 
not going to start with you," Mr. Emery said in an interview 
Thursday, quoting his lawyer, Ian Donaldson.

"Literally, my lawyer refused to [proceed] because he said there's no 
hope to it. He said it would just be a waste of a week or two weeks 
of court time for a result he cannot anticipate will be a positive one."

He also noted that his wife, Jodie, preferred any option that would 
reduce his jail time.

"She would feel more comfortable knowing I was going to be back in 
two or three or four years than perhaps never, or 10 to 15, 20 years."

Mr. Emery operates the Cannabis Culture marijuana paraphernalia store 
and the leader of the B.C. Marijuana Party.

He said there have been talks with U.S assistant district attorney 
Todd Greenberg, in Seattle, about pleading guilty to a count of 
marijuana distribution.

The prosecutor would seek five to eight years in prison, while Mr. 
Emery's lawyer would seek none to five years.

"We're hoping to present that to the judge and have him consider a 
much lesser jail-time sentence than the district attorney is 
proposing, but ultimately one has to concede the likelihood of jail 
is definitely there and the likelihood of some substantial amount of 
jail is there," Mr. Emery said.

He is expecting to enter a plea next month, and to be sentenced in 
either late August or early September.

Mr. Emery's two co-accused have already been convicted on the same 
charges he faces and are to be sentenced in July. The prosecution and 
defence have made a joint recommendation of two years probation.

A spokesperson for the United States Attorney's Office in the Western 
district of Washington, said she was well aware of Mr. Emery's case, 
but declined to comment.

"Mr. Emery can say whatever he wants to say. We don't discuss [plea] 
negotiations," Emily Langlie said from Seattle.

Mr. Emery said he coping with the inevitability of a serious jail 
term by considering various projects to help pass the time, including 
work on his memoirs, learning Spanish and French, and rallying his 
supporters to advocate for his transfer back to a Canadian jail.

"When you're in jail, let me assure you, you miss everything about 
the real world. The food is bad in jail. It's mediocre. The company 
is iffy at best and the cleanliness factor is not great," said Mr. 
Emery, who says he has been jailed in eight provinces for civil disobedience.

"The pillows are very uncomfortable. The lights are always on and 
glaring. You have no privacy of any kind. You miss everything. The 
key thing is not to think about it. Even when you are there, don't 
think about it. If you think about the things that you miss, life 
goes very slowly and torturously."

Mr. Emery has never been jailed in the United States, but spent 62 
days in a Saskatoon jail for trafficking after passing a joint at a 
marijuana rally.

This is Mr. Emery's second bid at striking a deal. An earlier effort 
in 2008 fell apart, he said, when Canada refused to abide by U.S. terms. 
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MAP posted-by: Richard Lake