Pubdate: Thu, 25 Jun 2015
Source: San Diego Union Tribune (CA)
Copyright: 2015 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.

OPERATOR OF SIX POT SHOPS PLEADS GUILTY IN FORGERY

A man operating six illegal pot shops across San Diego County pleaded 
guilty Wednesday to forging a doctor's signature so that patients 
could have access to medical marijuana.

Nelson Leone, 72, agreed as part of a plea agreement to shut down the 
six dispensaries, which are called Green Cross Evaluations and 
located in Pacific Beach, El Cajon, Poway, Mission Valley, eastern 
San Diego and near the Valley View Casino Center in the Midway District.

Leone faces maximum penalties of five years in prison and a $250,000 
fine for one felony count of identity theft, but is expected to 
receive a lighter sentence as part of his plea. Sentencing is 
scheduled for Sept. 14.

"It is simply unacceptable to have someone forge a doctor's signature 
for their own personal financial gain," said U.S. Attorney Laura 
Duffy, noting that patients wrongly thought they were getting advice 
from a licensed medical professional.

Scott Chipman, a vocal opponent of medical marijuana dispensaries, 
said after the plea hearing in federal court downtown that Leone's 
case shows how truly unregulated dispensaries are.

"We are pleased to see this federal enforcement as the medpot 
industry is fraught with lawlessness and fraud," he said. "We have 
doctors issuing marijuana recommendations with no examinations or 
real concern for patients."

Leone, who lost his medical license in 1995, hired Dr. Arnold Kaplan 
at one of the dispensaries to write medical marijuana recommendations 
- - they aren't called prescriptions because marijuana hasn't been 
approved for medical use by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

At the others, Leone issued recommendations to customers under 
Kaplan's name and license number, according to court documents. Those 
recommendations falsely certified that the customers were evaluated 
in the doctor's office and suffered from a medical condition that may 
benefit from medical marijuana.

Four of the illegal pot shops are in San Diego, where city officials 
have struggled to close illegal dispensaries as the first legal ones 
begin opening this year.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom