Crime

Armed robbers last week held at gunpoint five cannabis workers at a licensed California cannabis farm, making off with more than 150 pounds of processed cannabis that officials estimated to be worth about $150,000.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office recently unsealed documents against two former California officials who used their positions to solicit bribes from cannabis companies in exchange for licenses.

A dispensary employee was charged with murder after a deadly shooting during an armed robbery in North Portland, highlighting the ongoing risks cannabis industry workers face due to primarily cash-only retail operations.

California Attorney General Bob Ronta said police officers last week busted a retail burglary ring that targeted cannabis shops, leading to nearly two dozen arrests.

Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine (R) has no immediate plans to grant mass pardons for Ohioans with low-level cannabis offenses, which can negatively impact employment, housing, and higher education opportunities.

The owner of seven unlicensed New York cannabis shops has been fined $15.2 million, including $7 million in disgorgement fines and $8.2 million in penalties for operating without a license, ignoring multiple notices by officials, and selling cannabis to underage customers.

European law enforcement officials say they coordinated the takedown of a cannabis investment Ponzi scheme affecting at least 186,000 victims last week with a law enforcement action that included more than 400 officers in 11 countries.

A California man who was once convicted and imprisoned for multiple scams dating back to 1988 recently pleaded guilty to hemp industry fraud costing investors more than $18 million.

The Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) recently obtained judgments against two former CanaFarma Hemp Products Corp. executives for fraudulent offerings.

A recent raid on several unregulated dispensaries and smoke shops in San Diego, some of which were operating within 1,000 feet of schools, yielded a large volume of illicit narcotics including 60,000 counterfeit fentanyl pills, as well as cocaine, meth, and ecstasy.

New Mexico regulators revoked the license of Albuquerque-based cannabis business Golden Roots — which does business as Cannabis Revolution Dispensary — after finding that the company illegally obtained and transported its cannabis products.

Two lobbyists in Michigan were sentenced to federal prison over their role in paying bribes to Rick Johnson, the former chair of the Michigan Marijuana Licensing Board.

Two New Jersey men last week pleaded guilty to two counts of fraud related to swindling investors in CanaFarma Corp. and CanaFarma Hemp Products Corp.

The former head of the Michigan Medical Marihuana Board was sentenced on Thursday to nearly five years in prison for accepting bribes while leading the cannabis regulatory body.

Michigan businessman John Dalaly was sentenced on Thursday to more than two years in federal prison for bribing the former head of the state cannabis licensing board.

Richard Kerr, the former mayor of Adelanto, California, was sentenced on Friday to 14 months in federal prison for taking bribes from cannabis interests.

New Mexico officials revoked a cannabis retailer’s license after it was discovered the shop was selling cannabis products from California, amid other violations.

Georgia man Rahsaan Jackson Garth last week was sentenced to three years in federal prison and ordered to pay more than $2 million in restitution for his role in defrauding farmers in a hemp business venture.

A federal grand jury in California has indicted Mark Roy Anderson — a previously convicted conman who served 11 years in prison for an oil investment scam — of defrauding $9 million from investors for a nonexistent hemp farm.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) said this week it has shut down a multi-year, $60 million cannabis industry “Ponzi-like scheme” by WeedGenics and its owners.

A second Michigan lobbyist pleaded guilty to a bribery scheme involving the former head of the state’s medical cannabis licensing board.

Two Oregon state senators asked the U.S. Attorney for Oregon to formally investigate corruption in the state capitol related to campaign donations from cannabis operators.