Big Sky Scientific, the Colorado-based hemp company suing the Idaho State Police to get its impounded hemp shipment back, said they will drop the lawsuit if their hemp is returned and the state allows future hemp shipments to pass through, the Neighbor reports.
The case dates back to January when Idaho State Police discovered the company’s 6,700-pound shipment during an inspection of the truck while it was making its way through the state from Oregon. On Tuesday, the driver, Denis Palamarchuk — who works for IYI Trucking, not Big Sky — pleaded guilty to a lesser misdemeanor charge of carrying an improperly permitted load including faulty bill of lading, CBS 2 reports. He was initially charged with felony drug trafficking charges.
In a statement to the Neighbor, Big Sky said it would settle the case “including claims for money damages, against the State if it will just give back Big Sky’s industrial hemp and allow it to continue to do its business by shipping its lawful product through Idaho in interstate commerce.” The shipment is valued at $1.3 million. Following Palamarchuk’s plea deal, the hemp is no longer needed as evidence in a criminal case.
Ryan Shore, president of Big Sky, said that he’s not even sure the hemp would still be usable. He said that if Idaho officials don’t agree to allow hemp shipments through the state, the trip from Oregon to Colorado would take more than double the time, which he called “an unfeasible kind of commerce.”
Officials have not yet responded to Big Sky’s proposition.
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