Two California men get decades in prison for operating a marijuana dispensary


	Two California men get decades in prison for operating a marijuana dispensary

deadcowkid

11-23-2008 9:58 AM

252 views

tags:

medical, marijuana, dispensary

deadcowkid says:

"Luke Scarmazzo was sentenced to 21 years and 8 months in prison and Ricardo Ruiz Montes got 20 years for operating a marijuana dispensary in Modesto. Sentencing before Federal judge Oliver Wanger took place on November 21, 2008. Luke and Ricardo had a licence to run the dispensary and paid taxes. The conflict between state and federal laws are what led to their arrest and conviction.

The case drew attention because of a controversial rap video titled "Business Man" that features a sneering, preening Scarmazzo who raises both middle fingers to the camera and says "[expletive] the feds."

Defense attorneys said the federal government went after Scarmazzo and Montes because the music video challenged law enforcement's authority

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<div style="margin: 12px 0px; font-family: arial; color: #333333; background: #ffffff; border: solid 4px #e5e5e5; width: 100%; clear: left;"><div class="CM_CTB_Content_Wrap" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;background-color: #ffffff;"><div style="border-bottom: solid 1px #dcdcdc; white-space: nowrap; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: #eeeeee ;background-image: url(http://clipmarks.com/images/source-bg.gif); background-repeat: repeat-x; height: 24px; line-height: 24px; vertical-align: middle; padding-bottom: 4px; color: #666666; font-size: 10px;" ><a href="http://clipmarks.com/clip-to-blog/" title="see clips that are hot right now"><img src="http://content.clipmarks.com/blog_embed/e4bc4055-917b-4559-aed7-619b1cd3a8d8/97DF906D-67B0-43B2-A443-C515F596C84C/" alt="" width="19" height="19" border="0" style="vertical-align: middle; margin: 0px 4px; display: inline; border: none; float:none;" /></a>clipped from <a title="http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2008/11/22/18552581.php" href="http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2008/11/22/18552581.php" style="font-size: 11px;">www.indybay.org</a></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2008/11/22/18552581.php">The Fresno Bee reported the story about the conviction and sentencing of 
Scarmazzo and Montes on page 1of their local section today (November 22, 2008). 
In a bitter irony, on page 4 of the local section the Bee reports the following: 
<BR><BR>Applications for medical pot ID’s to be accepted <BR><BR></blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2008/11/22/18552581.php">Video taken while the case was in trial: <A 
href="http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2008/04/30/18495862.php">http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2008/04/30/18495862.php</A> 
<BR><BR>Coverage of the conviction: <A 
href="http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2008/05/16/18499788.php">http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2008/05/16/18499788.php</A> 
<BR><BR>More information: <A 
href="http://www.medicalmarijuanaofamerica.com/content/blogcategory/60/119/">http://www.medicalmarijuanaofamerica.com/content/blogcategory/60/119/</A> 
<BR><BR>The video shown in court: <A 
href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E5niNz39Fco">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E5niNz39Fco</A> 
<BR><BR>The Fresno Bee article in today’s paper: <BR><BR></blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2008/11/22/18552581.php">The case drew attention because of a controversial rap video titled "Business 
Man" that features a sneering, preening Scarmazzo who raises both middle fingers 
to the camera and says "[expletive] the feds." <BR></blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2008/11/22/18552581.php">Defense attorneys said the federal government went after Scarmazzo and Montes 
because the music video </blockquote></div><div style="margin: 0px 6px 6px 4px;"><table style="font-size: 11px;border-spacing: 0px;padding: 0px;" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%"><tr><td style="background:transparent;border-width:0px;padding:0px;">&nbsp;</td><td align="right" style="background:transparent;border-width:0px;padding:0px;width:107px" width="107"><a href="http://clipmarks.com/share/97DF906D-67B0-43B2-A443-C515F596C84C/blog/" title="blog or email this clip"><img src="http://content7.clipmarks.com/images/c2b-foot.png" border="0" alt="blog it" width="107" height="17" style="border-width:0px;padding:0px;margin:0px;" /></a></td></tr></table></div></div>

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