Pubdate: Tue, 29 Sep 2009
Source: Montreal Gazette (CN QU)
Copyright: 2009 Canwest Publishing Inc.
Contact: http://www.canada.com/montrealgazette/letters.html
Website: http://www.montrealgazette.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/274
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/people/Marc+Emery

CANADA'S 'PRINCE OF POT' AWAITS EXTRADITION TO U.S.

VANCOUVER - Canada's selfproclaimed "Prince of Pot" was escorted out
of B.C. Supreme Court and into jail yesterday to await extradition to
the U.S., where he is to serve as long as five years in prison for
shipping marijuana seeds across the border.

Marc Emery, 51, was indicted in 2005 along with two associates on drug
and moneylaundering charges stemming from a lucrative mail-order
pot-seed business run out of Emery's Vancouver book and paraphernalia
shop, which also doubled as B.C.'s Marijuana Party
headquarters.

Two charges Emery faced - conspiracy to distribute marijuana and
conspiracy to engage in money laundering - were dropped in exchange
for his guilty plea for conspiracy to manufacture marijuana.

He has agreed to a five-year imprisonment plea bargain in connection
with his $3-million-a-year marijuana seed catalogue business, where
most of his customers were American.

Canadian authorities drew criticism for helping the U.S. nab Emery,
because he openly participated in an operation that drew little heat
here in Canada.

Emery was convicted in Canada of selling pot seeds in 1998 and given a
$2,000 fine.

Emery's two associates, Michelle Rainey, 38, and Gregory Williams, 54,
were recently sentenced in the U.S. to two years' probation for
conspiracy to manufacture marijuana as a result of a plea deal.
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MAP posted-by: Richard Lake