Felon’s hiring spills into governor’s campaign

A convicted drug felon hired to act as a consultant to Ohio’s medical marijuana venture received an earlier contract from the state.

In addition to receiving $6,061 to help score applications for large marijuana cultivators, Trevor Bozeman, owner of iCann Consulting, also was paid $6,857 last year under another contract to advise the Department of Commerce about its development of medical-marijuana rules.

Commerce officials did not immediately provide paperwork about the second contract requested by The Dispatch.

Officials acknowledged Friday that Bozeman was paid only $6,061 for his application-scoring work. The $150,000 amount cited in his contract represented the maximum amount the Controlling Board approved for the work, not the amount he was actually paid, a spokeswoman said.

Again, state officials repeated their assertion that Bozeman’s work, despite his drug conviction, did not influence the development of rules or the awarding of highly sought-after cultivator licenses, saying no one person could heavily affect outcomes. He was one of three scorers on the cultivator applications.

Bozeman, now 33, was convicted in 2005 in Middleburg, Pennsylvania, of manufacturing, delivering and possessing drugs with intent to manufacture or deliver. He paid $2,131 in fines and costs and was placed on probation for three years. Bozeman, who apparently lives in Maine, has not returned telephone messages

seeking comment.

Ohio Auditor Dave Yost, some state lawmakers and some candidates for statewide office have called for a freeze on issuing the cultivator licenses — which already have been awarded — and for an investigation of Bozeman’s role.

U.S. Rep. Jim Renacci of Wadsworth, who is running for the Republican nomination for governor, joined the fray Friday and criticized one of his opponents, Attorney General Mike DeWine.

“Along with countless other Ohioans, I was appalled at the incompetent leadership in Columbus that employed a convicted felon. ... And while it’s beyond question that the state should void all previously authorized licenses and halt the issuance of new ones, Mike DeWine refuses to support those measures,” Renacci said in a statement.

DeWine office spokesman Dan Tierney said DeWine is “appalled that a convicted felon scored these licensure applications. Attorney General DeWine has called for an independent third party with prosecutorial experience to review any complaints regarding allegations made about the licensure process. This third party should have authority to refer any findings to law enforcement agencies for review of potential criminal charges, whether that is the State Highway Patrol, the Ohio Ethics Commission or the Franklin County prosecutor.”

DeWine believes an investigation should not involve his office since it represents the Department of Commerce and legal action has

been threatened over the awarding of the cultivator licenses, Tierney said. Auditor Yost has suggested that Inspector General Randall J. Meyer should investigate the matter.

Commerce department spokeswoman Kerry Francis said Friday: “We understand that some people are disappointed and some people are elated (over the award of licenses), but we have confidence in the process.”

Asked if the department sees a need for an investigation, she replied, “We don’t have anything new to discuss at this time.”

Meanwhile, Jimmy Gould, the would-be marijuana entrepreneur who failed to win a large cultivator license and called Bozeman’s conviction to reporters’ attention, plans another bid to legalize recreational marijuana through a proposed constitutional amendment.

Gould, who bankrolled the failed 2015 ballot issue to legalize marijuana and restrict its cultivation to a group of investors behind the measure, plans a news conference on Monday about the “Free Market Adult Consumption of Marijuana ballot issue” for next year. The 2015 attempt was rejected by voters by a nearly 2-to-1 margin.

The state recently awarded licenses for both small and large medical-marijuana grow operations. Medical marijuana is expected to be available legally in Ohio in about a year for specified illnesses and medical conditions.