OROVILLE — Backing the idea that an earlier proposed court order had been a joke, a judge Wednesday formally denied a defense motion seeking the return of large amounts of seized medical marijuana plants to a Concow collective. Assigned Judge William Lamb pointed out no members of the purported collective had petitioned the court for the pot’s return, and that in any event, he felt the amount confiscated by sheriff’s officers exceeded what was medically necessary by the group. A jury earlier this year had acquitted Michael Kelly and his father, Sean Kelly, of identical [...]
Our view: An empty warehouse filled with marijuana? Sounds like a nightmare Chico shouldn’t encourage. At first it sounded like a joke, the Chico Enterprise-Record opines in this editorial. Somebody wants to take a huge vacant building near the Chico Municipal Airport and fill it with 600,000 square feet of marijuana plants, an indoor grow the size of five Chico Wal-Marts. Only it wasn’t a joke. The proposal came from a serious businessman, who is kicking tires in an attempt to expand his Los Angeles-based venture, Plant Properties Management, LLC. Jason Oh, 36, learned of [...]
CHICO — In this economy, it may be good news to some that an enterprising venture is interested in one of Chico’s largest vacant buildings. But others are concerned over the proposal for 1100 Marauder St. — a 600,000-square-foot indoor hydroponic medical marijuana grow that would be the largest in the nation. The building at the Chico Municipal Airport Industrial Park, once occupied by clothing distributor Koret, is being eyed by Plant Properties Management, LLC. The Los Angeles-based company has hopes of creating a business model in Chico unparalleled in the medical marijuana industry, Toni [...]
OROVILLE — Prosecutors said they are treating as a “joke” a proposed court order to return hundreds of seized medical marijuana plants to members of a Concow-area collective following a jury acquittal. A Butte County Superior Court jury last month found a Concow man and his father, Michael and Sean Kelly, not guilty of illegal cultivation and possession of pot for sale. The pair claimed to be part of a 15-member group of medical marijuana patients that were collectively growing marijuana on two pieces of property the defendants owned, the Chico Enterprise-Record reports. During two [...]
Jul 212010
OROVILLE — The last of five suspects arrested last year in connection with a 1,000-plant marijuana grow operation north of Chico was granted probation Tuesday. The judge sentenced Hollister Keene, 20, to 10 days in jail, but agreed to let him serve the term during a break in his college classes. Four co-defendants were also previously granted probation, except Keene’s older brother, Michael Keene, 29, the purported ringleader of the illegal grow, who is currently in prison. Butte County sheriff’s deputies, acting on a tip about excessive amounts of electricity being used on the premises, [...]
At least one Butte County medical marijuana dispensary among seven raided by law enforcement officials Wednesday has reopened. A lawyer for Cascade Wellness Center said employees spent the day Thursday gathering cannabis from collective members and were able to scrape together enough to open the doors at 3:30 p.m. Customers were waiting and the dispensary reportedly had to carefully ration the amount each could buy. Attorney George Mull said officers entered the dispensary, located north of Chico on Highway 99, without probable cause and used a warrant to confiscate product, computers, cash, financial records and [...]
More than 100 personnel from law enforcement agencies throughout Northern California converged on Butte County on Wednesday to serve search warrants on storefront marijuana dispensaries, the Chico Enterprise-Record reports. Businesses in Chico, Forest Ranch, Magalia, and the Sacramento County town of Rio Lindo were entered by teams of officers who reportedly confiscated cannabis, other products, financial records, computers, Proposition 215 verifications and, in some cases, cash. Sacramento Bee “Weed Wars” coverage Search warrants were also served at 11 residences with connections to the cooperatives. The operator of a Chico-area dispensary said the officers were courteous [...]
SACRAMENTO — A man tracked down after posing as a federal agent to rob a Butte County marijuana grow has been sentenced to 10 years and 10 months in prison for drug trafficking and brandishing a firearm. Eric Keith Sills, 38, of Oroville was sentenced Tuesday by a United States District Court judge. Sills was described as the leader of a four-man crew that told pot growers near Concow they were law enforcement officers conducting a drug raid, the Chico Enterprise-Record reports. On Sept. 28, 2008, Sills and another man dressed as agents from the [...]
Bud’s note: Take a moment to read through this medical marijuana cultivation trial coverage and related stories by veteran Chico Enterprise-Record reporter Terry Vau Dell. In-depth court coverage is a rarity these days, so it’s nice to give a shout-out when it happens. ================ OROVILLE — A Concow man accused of growing pot for sale with his father took the witness stand Thursday to insist they were part of a lawful 16-member medical marijuana collective. Characterizing himself as a “cannabis consultant,” Michael Edmond Kelly, 29, told the Butte County Superior Court jury that he and [...]
OROVILLE — A Butte County man who was acquitted in 2003 by a jury in a medical marijuana case is back in court on identical criminal charges — this time with his father. Michael Kelly and his father, Sean Kelly, are both charged with illegal cultivation and possession of marijuana for sale following raids on two Concow properties in October 2008 and June 2009, the Chico Enterprise-Record reports. Their lawyers said the father and son were part of a lawful “collective” of medical marijuana patients. In court Monday, two people whose doctor’s recommendations to use [...]
Recent Comments