Pubdate: Wed, 16 Oct 2013
Source: San Diego Union Tribune (CA)
Copyright: 2013 Union-Tribune Publishing Co.
Contact:  http://www.utsandiego.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/386
Note: Seldom prints LTEs from outside it's circulation area.
Author: Kristina Davis

PLEA DEAL REACHED IN MED POT CASE

Ex-Owner of Two Businesses Pleads Guilty to Money Laundering; Sentencing Dec. 9

SAN DIEGO - The former owner of two medical marijuana dispensaries 
has struck a deal with federal prosecutors, pleading guilty to a 
money laundering charge Tuesday and resolving a case that has been 
closely watched by lawmakers and the medical cannabis community.

Ronnie Chang, 45, had faced 77 charges, including conspiracy to 
manufacture and distribute marijuana, money laundering and conspiracy 
to distribute to minors.

His indictment in 2011 followed a lengthy investigation and the 
forced closure of two of his dispensaries, Club One in San Marcos and 
Extreme Holistic Care in Wildomar in Riverside County.

He pleaded guilty Tuesday in San Diego federal court to money 
laundering, admitting to knowingly depositing $100,000 in proceeds 
from marijuana sales into his elderly mother's bank account in an 
attempt to hide the source.

The absence of drug charges in the plea agreement suggests a new 
realignment with Justice Department guidelines that give states more 
leeway to impose their own strict marijuana laws.

The department's sweeping change in policy, explained in a memo to 
U.S. attorneys in August, does not make marijuana legal by federal law.

But it does signal a shift in how the government will respond to 
growing support for marijuana in some states, including the recent 
legalization in Washington and Colorado.

The Justice Department has said investigative efforts should be 
directed at measures such as keeping marijuana out of the hands of 
minors and preventing profits from going to drug cartels and gangs.

The new guidelines didn't appear to change the course of the U.S. 
Attorney's Office prosecution of Chang at first glance.

As Chang's November trial date approached, prosecutors filed a motion 
arguing that compliance with state medical marijuana laws had no 
bearing on the case because those laws aren't recognized federally.

Prosecutors were also asking a judge to prohibit Chang's defense 
lawyers from using any terms relating to medical marijuana during 
trial, including the words "dispensary" and "legal collective."

Attorneys for both sides declined Tuesday to discuss the reasons 
behind the plea deal, citing an agreement with the judge to not talk 
publicly about the ongoing case.

Chang was to be released Tuesday evening from a federal jail, where 
he has been held for 18 months.

He is set to be sentenced Dec. 9 by U.S. District Judge Michael 
Anello, who will consider the government's recommended sentence of 
time already served in jail and probation.

"Unfortunately the federal government continues to persecute 
legitimate patients even though they try to be compliant with state 
law," said Eugene Davidovich of San Diego Americans for Safe Access, 
a medical marijuana advocacy group.

U.S. Attorney Laura Duffy has been aggressive in going after 
dispensaries, arguing that they use the state's medical marijuana law 
as a front for retail sales.

According to court records, a Border Patrol agent stopped Chang in 
December 2010 as he drove a rental truck on Pala Road - a route that 
bypassed the Interstate 15 checkpoint.

About $29,000 in cash and a pound of high-grade marijuana was found 
in the truck. Authorities raided his facilities four months later.

In May, then-Mayor Bob Filner gave a news conference in front of the 
federal courthouse, urging jurors to find Chang not guilty if they 
didn't agree with the law under which he was charged.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom