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Six Plead Not Guilty to Marijuana Dispensary Fraud Charges
San Diego Union Tribune | 07/11/06

SAN DIEGO – Six men accused of either running illegal medical marijuana dispensaries or providing the drug to undercover officers pleaded not guilty Monday to charges of possession for sale and selling marijuana.

The defendants were among 15 people arrested last week during a number of raids at several distribution storefronts in San Diego.

Undercover officers – posing as both patients and primary care providers – were able to buy marijuana without a prescription, authorities said.

Under Proposition 215, passed by California voters in 1996, seriously ill patients can get small amounts of marijuana legally if they have the approval of a licensed physician.

John Thomas Sullivan, 38, described in court as a con artist, denied state charges Monday of possession for sale of marijuana, sale of marijuana, insurance fraud and receiving stolen property.

He is also charged in a federal indictment with one count each of conspiracy to manufacture marijuana, conspiracy to distribute marijuana and manufacturing marijuana.

Prosecutor Dana Greisen told Judge David Szumowski that Sullivan had criminal convictions for insurance fraud and grand theft and was being monitored by electronic surveillance when he was taken into custody on the current charges.

Greisen said Sullivan had marijuana storefronts up and down California and had continually preyed on the community.

Deputy Public Defender Juliana Humphrey told the judge that Sullivan worked as a currency broker and that the charges were not correct.

Szumowski set bail at $250,000.

Greisen said another man, Ahmad Abdul-Jalil, 21, allegedly ran a storefront in La Jolla where an undercover officer was able to buy marijuana for his dog.

Large amounts of marijuana and $7,000 in cash were found when a search warrant was executed in that case, the prosecutor said.

Greisen said Anthony Amrine, 33, was the owner of a dispensary in Ocean Beach that was searched in December.

The defendant admitted to police that 50 percent of his customers came “just to get high,” the prosecutor told the judge.

Greisen said Amrine had $2,200 in cash and ran out the back door of the business when it was raided.

Humphrey called Amrine and employees Riley Hoskins Butts and Amaro Jesus “true advocates” of the medical marijuana movement.

A weapon found during a search of Amrine's home was an antique with no ammunition, the defense attorneys said.

A sixth defendant, Michael Julian Crane, 42, ran a storefront in Solana Beach, Greisen said.

Undercover officers were available to buy marijuana both as primary caregivers and patient, the prosecutor said.

Several other defendants who were arrested – and subsequently posted bail – are expected in court Thursday and Friday, Greisen said.

Greisen, assistant chief of the Narcotics Division in the District Attorney's Office, told reporters outside court that the defendants sold small amounts of marijuana “over and over and over again.”

He called the marijuana storefronts basically “Home Depots dealing marijuana.”

The way in which the storefronts are selling marijuana is not what Proposition 215 stands for, the prosecutor said.

People wishing to get marijuana for medicinal purposes should find a primary caregiver and obtain the drug legally, Greisen said.

The joint investigation began last September, after numerous complaints were lodged by nearby residents in the neighborhoods where the illegal drug dealers were disguised as operators of medical marijuana dispensaries, authorities said.

Marijuana recommendations or “prescriptions” for six months or one year, which could be purchased from some specific doctors, appeared to be openly sold to anyone who had the cash, authorities said.

The investigation focused on the more than 20 storefronts which opened up throughout the city of San Diego and would sell marijuana to anyone with a recommendation or a caregiver form signed by the same doctors.

According to one federal indictment, Sullivan operated and/or managed two distribution locations known as “Tender Holistics Care” or “THC” in San Diego, which distributed marijuana and marijuana-based products, such as ice cream, ice cream toppings, candy bars and baked goods.

In the second indictment, Wayne Hudson, 42, Christopher Larkin, 34, Ross McManus, 39, Scott Wright, 40, and Michael Ragin, 34, are charged with one count each of conspiracy to distribute marijuana and conspiracy to manufacture marijuana.

From at least 2005 to the present, Hudson, Larkin and McManus have owned, managed and directed “Co-Op San Diego,” a site from which they distribute marijuana and marijuana plants, according to the indictment.

To supply their operation, the defendants arranged for the operation of large indoor marijuana growing areas at various residences in San Diego, which were overseen by Wright and Ragin, according to the indictment.

The sale, possession or distribution of marijuana is illegal under federal law.

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