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by Henry K. Lee, San Francisco Chronicle (June 1st, 2007) - HAYWARD -- The
owner and manager of a Hayward medical marijuana dispensary were charged in
federal court today with using the business as a front to sell pot for profit.
Hayward residents Shon Squier, 34, owner of the Local Patients
Cooperative, and Valerie Herschel, 23, its manager, were charged with
distribution of marijuana, maintaining drug-involved premises and money
laundering.
Squier allegedly used the profit from marijuana sales to buy a Hayward
home on Chronicle Avenue in the hills above Cal State East Bay for $532,107
and a Dodge pickup truck for $40,200, authorities said. Herschel allegedly
used $85,853 for a down payment on a home on nearby Parkside Drive.
The two, who were arrested Dec. 11, were named today in a document
known as an information, which in federal court typically signifies that a
defendant intends to plead guilty. Their attorneys were not immediately
available to comment today.
Authorities seized indoor growing equipment, hundreds of plants and
cookies, brownies and other food that contained marijuana during raids of
the dispensary, located at 22612 through 22630 Foothill Blvd.
In 1996, California voters approved Proposition 215, which allows the
use of marijuana for medical purposes with a doctor's recommendation. Under
federal law, possessing marijuana in any form remains illegal.
Local officials recently ordered the dispensary, one of two in
Hayward, to close because it had more marijuana on site than the city
allowed. In an affidavit, Drug Enforcement Administration Special Agent
Kenny Lee cited a newspaper article to show that police had found 30 pounds
of marijuana at the dispensary, 10 times the amount as allowed by the city
of Hayward.
Agents staked out the dispensary five times in October and November,
and saw healthy-looking men entering and leaving the building each time,
carrying bags with the word "prescription" on it. Agents believed
that the
bags contained marijuana, according to the affidavit.
E-mail Henry K. Lee at hlee@sfchronicle.com. |
