Pot activists get probation, fine on drug-related charges
TORONTO — A police investigation into marijuana operations of Canada’s self-proclaimed Prince and Princess of Pot offers a glimpse into the economics of the booming illegal storefront operations selling cannabis products.
Jodie and Marc Emery pleaded guilty Monday to a number of drug-related charges related to what the Crown called a “sophisticated” dispensary operation.
Crown attorney Kiran Gill told the Toronto court police seized thousands of pages of documents — from contracts to transaction records and bank-deposit slips — at Cannabis Culture shops in several cities across the country last year along with a trove of documents found at the company’s Vancouver headquarters.
“Marc and Jodie Emery had established a sophisticated franchise model with the goal of operating dispensaries all across Canada,” Gill said.
She read an agreed statement of facts that showed the substantial amount of cash earned at numerous dispensaries, with the crown jewel a storefront in downtown Toronto.
Police began Project Gator in 2016 to look into Cannabis Culture, the marijuana brand operated by the Emerys that moved into the burgeoning dispensary business, Gill said.
The prosecution said it was able to piece together the vast sums of money involved after the Cannabis Culture raids.
First, franchisees had to pay Cannabis Culture a $25,000 franchise fee plus a $3,000 monthly fee. Marijuana and cannabis products, from weed to edibles to merchandise, had to be procured by the franchisee.
Franchisees also had to pay six per cent to 10 per cent royalties on total sales to Cannabis Culture, court heard.
Marc Emery pleaded guilty to possession of marijuana for the purpose of trafficking, trafficking marijuana and possession of proceeds of crime more than $5,000.
Jodie Emery pleaded guilty to possession of marijuana for the purpose of trafficking and possession of proceeds of crime over $5,000.
Three others with ties to the Emerys pleaded guilty to similar charges while the Crown withdrew charges against 17 Cannabis Culture employees.
All other charges against the Emerys were dropped and the judge accepted a joint recommendation for sentencing the couple.
The Emerys must each pay a $150,000 fine plus a $45,000 victim surcharge and spend two years on probation with conditions that include not participating, directly or indirectly, in any illegal marijuana dispensary.
“I think this fine is extraordinarily high. I even offered to go to jail for a year, but they weren’t interested,” Marc Emery said to the judge.