Pubdate: Fri, 08 Jan 2010
Source: Nanaimo Daily News (CN BC)
Copyright: 2010 Nanaimo Daily News
Contact:  http://www.canada.com/nanaimodailynews/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1608
Author: Elaine O'Connor, Staff Writer

'PRINCE OF POT' SOON OFF TO PRISON

Under A Plea Deal Marc Emery Is Bound To Serve Five Years Behind Bars
In The U.S.

Vancouver marijuana activist Marc Emery is taking his last puff of
freedom -- as the clock counts down on an extradition order that will
send him to a U.S. jail for five years.

Emery, founder of the B.C. Marijuana Party and publisher of Cannabis
Culture magazine, is currently out on bail waiting for Federal Justice
Minister and Attorney General Rob Nicholson to sign the extradition
order, which can be done any time after today.

Emery says he will not turn fugitive, but will obey the order, when it
comes. Until then, Emery, often referred to as B.C.'s Prince of Pot,
is making the most of his last days of freedom.

"I've been enjoying every moment of it out with my wife. We are just
living day to day," he said.

Emery's trouble with U.S. authorities stemmed from his online
mail-order marijuana seed business, "Marc Emery Direct Seeds," which
he ran from 1994 to 2005.

Trade in seeds is illegal in Canada and the U.S., but the law is
seldom enforced here.

By 2005, the U.S. Justice Department got wind of the seeds coming into
their country. The U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency raided Emery's
business, and the Canadian government was asked to extradite him to
America to face charges of conspiracy to produce and traffic marijuana
and to launder the proceeds of crime -- charges that could have landed
him a life sentence in a U.S. prison.

After a failed legal bid to serve his time in Canada, Emery signed a
plea bargain in September 2009 to avoid a U.S. trial. The deal reduced
his sentence to five years in a U.S. federal prison.

"It's clearly a political case against me," Emery said. "It's not
because of any harm I have done."

Emery was detained in North Fraser Pretrial Centre as his lawyers
argued his case in an extradition hearing in B.C. Supreme Court. He
was released on bail Nov. 18.

After his hearing concluded, his lawyer was given a reprieve until
this week to submit final documents, owing to an illness -- which
meant the extradition order could not be filed until today at the earliest.

Emery said he expects to be held at SeaTac Federal Detention Centre
outside Seattle for several weeks following his transfer to the U.S.
while officials decide where he will serve his sentence.
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MAP posted-by: Richard R Smith Jr