USA - 3 Indicted For Pot in VT

[Panthers007]

Three indicted in pot distribution

July 8, 2008

Burlington, Vermont


Three more people have been indicted by a federal grand jury in connection with an investigation into a marijuana distribution network allegedly operated by the owner of a Chittenden County automobile repair business.

The three include Abraham David of Fort Covington, N.Y. Officials believe David provided shipments of marijuana to Alan Young, owner of Duncan’s Auto Service in Burlington, including 20 pounds of marijuana delivered to Young’s Colchester home Feb. 3.

Young was originally indicted Feb. 21 in connection with his alleged marijuana trafficking operation but was included in a new, superceding indictment with his three co-defendants handed up by a federal grand jury late last month.

In separate court appearances Monday, David and Young were arraigned on three criminal charges, including conspiracy to distribute marijuana and two counts of distributing marijuana.

Both men pleaded not guilty to the charges and were released on conditions.

According to court records, Debra Pope of Massena, N.Y., was indicted on conspiracy to distribute marijuana and a marijuana distribution charge but has not yet appeared in court.

Gregory Burt was indicted on a single conspiracy to distribute marijuana charge but has also not yet appeared in court. His address was not included in court records. Assistant U.S. Attorney William Darrow said he was an associate of Young.

In 2007, the federal Drug Enforcement Administration monitored Young’s home after learning he was about to receive a shipment of marijuana from upstate New York.

On Oct. 25, agents witnessed David and Young talking in Young’s driveway in Colchester. When David’s pickup was pulled over later, $46,750 in cash was found inside a plastic bag in the truck.

On Feb. 3, Pope was spotted by federal agents talking to Young in his Colchester driveway, and Young was seen rolling a tire from Pope’s truck to the side of his garage.

When Pope’s truck was pulled over later, she was found with $40,000 in cash contained in a plastic bag, the affidavit said.

Federal agents armed with a search warrant went to Young’s home and found the tire cut open. About 20 pounds of marijuana was found in a large plastic bag in Young’s kitchen, the affidavit said.
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Read reactions to this story

Panthers007 wrote:
Marijuana was outlawed under the Marijuana Tax-Stamp Act in 1937. Popular support was gained by playing the "race-card" - Hispanic men smoking pot would rape white women. Eek! Bang! Outlawed. In reality, the Hearst Paper Co. and DuPont Chemical were behind this. Hearst owned vast tracts of virgin forest in the Pacific Northwest and wanted a monopoly on paper (Hemp being the traditional material for such), and DuPont had just invented Nylon and wanted Nylon to replace hemp-fibre for ropes, canvas (cannabis), so forth. It was political backroom-dealing. Sound familiar?

Now billions of dollars are wasted on a cynical "War on Drugs" - making criminals out of ordinary citizens. Interested in learning more? Find a copy of the DVD: American Drug War - the Last White Hope. An excellent documentary that untangles the whole mess. It's the real thing, folks. Not some Hippie-Dippy pot-fest. It should be shown in Town-Meetings coast-to-coast.
7/8/2008 12:33:31 PM

mindinmatters wrote:
Just think of time wasted and money. If POT was legal it could be taxed. The only illegal action would be evasion of sales taxes.


7/8/2008 12:15:40 PM

ofcorse wrote:
Just think of how these resources could be used if the government would realize that marijuana isn't a "gateway" drug any more than soda is a gateway to beer. Old, fat, rich, conservative white republicans who have probably never even seen pot made these laws and the tobacco lobby sees to it that it will take as long as possible to legalize. The tobacco industry stands to lose billions of dollars if pot was legalized, but all they need to do is convert some of their tobacco fields to grow marijuana. Granted, the garbage that is grown outdoors in the southern US is not very desirable, but that's what seem to be the quality of the stuff in larger cities. Good ol' VT produces some of the best stuff in the country-no wonder it's the #1 cash crop in Vermont. Legalize it, tax it and see what kind of revenue it generates. Do this at the same time as outlawing alcohol and watch many of society's negative issues fade into the past. Send the republicans to AA or Maple Leaf.

[stoneinfocus]

*lol* conspiracy...

what's that shit.. conspiracy in giving smokers some smoke, while smoking with them?

we need to have another approach in getting it into the heads of the whole people, that a democracy has the duty to serve any group to the best of the societie's abilities and restrictions had to be avoided to the utmost extend.

it's then not about drugs anymore, but taking drug users into account on the same logical ground.

This sense of democracy that had been established in the people's minds is, that the majority decides over minorities and if it outruled other peers, the alternative systems's getting dismissed and isautomatically seen as something generally wrong, that had to be avoided by all. Then pressure is being put onto those alternatives as if they were losers to the superior democratic majority, though the alternative might be just wrong within 50% of the people, who are not even influenced by this alternatively existing reality, 20% needing the alternative desperately and even if being legal or not outruled and surpressed, 80% wouldn't fall for or using the alternatives anyay, being legal or not, while those 20% in need will keep on using, aynway.

This is not democracy, this is a manipualting dictatorship or at least very edgy, with many unnecessary individual fatalities, and also favouring ever more the power of the big players of putting pressure onto the little guys and is favouring the developtment of many groups of, by laws underpriveledged, people, adding up to a total of 1/3 -2/3 of the population, taking together the people of those different cultural and econocial splits, making them accessible for the recruitment of the big players and law-play.This is how today's enslavement works.So this should be, how we go about the drug issue, imho.

the dirstribution could be much better under control and hazardous use and fatalities avoided as well as a free society would make it easier to help individuals being honest about eventual problems, without fearing prosecutions, loss of job, money, dirvign license and freedom, or being handled brutally and wrong by a ideology of prosecutions and denunciation residing in the majority of the people's minds, bla, bla bla, no-one is isntersted in drug users, you see, you could be exploding and they'd give applause, for you're gone now, with 2 out of hundred actually recognizing the true roots of the probleme.