Police aided illegal marijuana operation in Maine, feds say
Source: Associated Press
Police aided illegal marijuana operation in Maine, feds say
The Associated Press
October 28, 2021
Two sheriff’s deputies accepted new cars and an ownership stake in an operation that illegally sold more than $13 million in pot grown for the state’s medical marijuana program, federal prosecutors said.
Two other law enforcement officers and a prosecutor aided the operation by providing intelligence and tipping off participants, prosecutors said.
Federal documents unsealed Wednesday when one of the defendants pleaded guilty revealed an elaborate program in which marijuana that was supposedly grown for registered caregivers was sold outside the program with profits being laundered through a corporate structure.
A dozen people were charged in the 14-count complaint, including a Rangeley select board member, an assistant district attorney, two Franklin County sheriff’s deputies, an Oxford County sheriff’s deputy and a Wilton police officer.
The Franklin County deputies accepted ownership interests and cars in exchange for confidential information, according to the complaint. The prosecutor allegedly tipped off a corrupt police officer about the investigation, and two other officers allegedly warned the Franklin County deputies they were under surveillance, the complaint said.
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Read more: https://apnews.com/article/health-marijuana-maine-medical-marijuana-4b09af9fe418d23bf18afdea87631067
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Related: Farmington Man Pleads Guilty to Role in Illegal Marijuana Distribution Conspiracy Involving Money Laundering and Public Corruption (U.S. Attorney's Office - District of Maine)
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