Pubdate: Thu, 08 Nov 2012
Source: Chico News & Review, The (CA)
Copyright: 2012 Chico Community Publishing, Inc.
Contact:  http://www.newsreview.com/chico/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/559
Author: Vic Cantu

POT-BUST FLASHBACK

District Attorney Finally Files Charges in 2010 Medical-Marijuana Raid

Nearly two and one-half years ago, Rick and Donna Tognoli were proud 
owners of the medical-marijuana dispensary Scripts Only Service 
(SOS), growing and dispensing cannabis to hundreds of members with 
doctors' recommendations. That all came to a crashing halt in June 
2010 when SOS was raided, along with seven other Butte County dispensaries.

Though SOS was shut down due to the seizure of its property and 
money, no charges were filed until this September, which has the 
Tognolis crying foul and suggesting collusion within the county 
government between a county supervisor and the district attorney.

"The charges were filed about two weeks after I called Butte County 
Supervisor Larry Wahl a liar in an open [Board of Supervisors] 
meeting attended by Butte County DA Mike Ramsey," Rick Tognoli said.

That Aug. 28 meeting involved a proposal to rework an ordinance 
regulating the growing of marijuana that had been rejected by the 
voters via a referendum. Ramsey strongly refutes the Tognolis' allegation.

"At that meeting I proclaimed the supervisors' marijuana-growing 
proposal was unconstitutional, so filing charges to 'get back' at Mr. 
Tognoli, who also opposed it, doesn't make sense," Ramsey said.

The 2010 raids on the collectives were conducted for their practice 
of accepting monetary "donations" for medical pot, said Ramsey. So 
far only one other collective, Mountainside Patients Collective, has 
been charged, but that case was dropped due to the ill health of the 
collective's owner. The recent charges against SOS include 14 felony 
offenses related to sales, cultivation and transportation of 
marijuana; arraignment is set for Nov. 16.

Ramsey says the laws in place simply do not allow for the sale of 
medical marijuana.

"I'm against medical-marijuana dispensaries. Neither Proposition 215 
nor SB 420 allows for the sale of pot, even as a reimbursement," 
Ramsey said, referring to California laws legalizing and regulating 
medical pot.

The only collectives that are legal, he said, are the "hippie-type 
ones" in which patients themselves grow on common property.

"Those too sick to grow for themselves must assign a personal 
caregiver such as a family member or licensed vocational nurse," Ramsey said.

The 2010 raids were conducted using more than 100 officers from 
dozens of law-enforcement agencies. They confiscated $35,000 from SOS 
and the Tognolis' bank accounts, including $25,000 belonging to 
Rick's trucking business, which, he said, crippled it.

"My trucking business went from grossing over $500,000 a year with 
three trucks and six employees to $200,000 a year with just one truck 
and one employee now," he said. The Tognolis estimate they've lost 
$750,000 in revenues plus $20,000 in legal fees. They insist the SOS 
funds were clearly separate from those of the trucking business.

"The DA has spent over two years trying to prove we were laundering 
money and he can't," Donna Tognoli said.

The couple anticipate a long, expensive legal battle, but hope to prevail.

"If we are tried by a jury we expect to win. But if we are tried only 
by a judge we would lose because it's a good ol' boys network, but we 
would appeal," Rick Tognoli said.

Asked why it took almost two and one-half years to bring charges, 
Ramsey said it was due to a shortage of investigators.

"We only had one retired deputy DA working part time on the follow 
up," Ramsey said. "Also, the state laws governing collectives have 
been in flux."

Max Del Real, a lobbyist for Butte County medical-marijuana growers, 
said he thinks the delay was a symptom of poor law enforcement.

"If a case is really serious, you usually get quick action from the 
DA," he said. "The Butte County busts ignored state law and made them 
seem like the Wild West."

The Tognolis agree.

"The DA's opinion doesn't matter; state law does," Rick Tognoli said.

The Tognolis cite a 2009 ruling by the California Third District 
Court of Appeals in the case of County of Butte v. Superior Court 
that gave Californians the right to cultivate pot collectively. It 
upheld a ruling by Butte County Superior Court Judge Barbara Roberts 
that rejected Butte County's policy of requiring collective patients 
to physically participate in the growing their own cannabis and 
instead allowing them to contribute financially.

"When I told Ramsey about this ruling he looked me in the eye and 
said, 'Judge Roberts is a poor judge,'" Rick Tognoli said.

A year ago Tognoli was awarded the right to have his $25,000 
returned, but it proved a hollow victory. The judge ruled that all 
the money must be held in an off-limits account pending the outcome 
of the case.

Today the Tognolis still run SOS, albeit a tiny version of the 
dispensary. It operates without a storefront, delivering medical 
marijuana to patients, Rick Tognoli said.

"The other day I delivered cannabis to a sick, elderly woman who 
couldn't lift her arms to accept her medicine," he said. "What a 
corrupt county. There's no accountability."
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom