Katelyn Baker
Well-Known Member
An attorney who represents the head of a business leasing one of the cannabis processing units closed by a sheriff's raid Oct. 27 said on Wednesday that the action ignores the spirit of the Calaveras County urgency ordinance that regulates commercial cultivation.
"The ordinance allows drying and processing," said Sacramento defense attorney Mark Reichel, who represents Elias Egozi, a principal in Calaveras Cannabis Inc, a firm that operated a cannabis processing facility at Unit B, 833 Highway 49, San Andreas.
"Imagine if you have an ordinance that allows you to grow apples but does not allow you to put them on the table. ... How much sense does that make?"
"We are going to exercise whatever our legal rights are and that does include a lawsuit," Reichel said.
Egozi, director and founder of Calaveras Cannabis Inc., said in a statement that the occupants of his building were arrested on charges of cultivation of cannabis and conspiracy to cultivate cannabis.
"The local ordinance is a zoning ordinance and not a criminal statute. It can't make something criminally illegal that has been made civilly legal by the county's Board of Supervisors," said Ergozi.
Calaveras County Planning Director Peter Maurer said on Wednesday that while the county's urgency ordinance permits drying and processing, the Unit B processing facility "was a pending application and was not final. He did not meet the requirements of the ordinance."
"There are other issues that are subject to an ongoing investigation and I can't comment further," said Maurer.
Calaveras County Sheriff Rick DiBasilio led the raid that seized more than 2.5 tons of cannabis products from the three units at the old county airport. Three different processing operations were working in the large steel building, Egozi said.
DiBasilio said 37 workers from the units were arrested on Thursday. By Monday, 15 people — some from Central America and Mexico and some from as far away at Bulgaria and Iceland — had been booked into Calaveras County Jail on felony charges of growing marijuana and conspiracy to commit a crime. DiBasilio said 22 workers were cited and released.
Egozi said the Sheriff's Office raid took 880 pounds of cannabis products from his business at Unit B.
"It was destroyed onsite and without due process," he said.
"We'd hate to have to file a lawsuit against the county, but sometimes that is the only viable legal option in a situation like this," he said. "The rights and well-being of our patients come first."
He said his product is "mostly donated" and is very low in the psychoactive element that produces a "high." He said his firm's cannabis is used by people who suffer from serious epilepsy or tremor disorders.
Egozi issued a statement on Monday that said Calaveras Cannabis Inc. was legally occupying Unit B of the building. Egozi said he and the company were in full compliance with California and Calaveras County laws.
He said none of his employees were foreigners or working without documentation.
News Moderator: Katelyn Baker 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: Owner May Sue Over Destruction Of Cannabis Business At Old Airport
Author: Terry Grillo
Contact: 209-754-3861
Photo Credit: Nick Oza
Website: Calavveras Enterprise
"The ordinance allows drying and processing," said Sacramento defense attorney Mark Reichel, who represents Elias Egozi, a principal in Calaveras Cannabis Inc, a firm that operated a cannabis processing facility at Unit B, 833 Highway 49, San Andreas.
"Imagine if you have an ordinance that allows you to grow apples but does not allow you to put them on the table. ... How much sense does that make?"
"We are going to exercise whatever our legal rights are and that does include a lawsuit," Reichel said.
Egozi, director and founder of Calaveras Cannabis Inc., said in a statement that the occupants of his building were arrested on charges of cultivation of cannabis and conspiracy to cultivate cannabis.
"The local ordinance is a zoning ordinance and not a criminal statute. It can't make something criminally illegal that has been made civilly legal by the county's Board of Supervisors," said Ergozi.
Calaveras County Planning Director Peter Maurer said on Wednesday that while the county's urgency ordinance permits drying and processing, the Unit B processing facility "was a pending application and was not final. He did not meet the requirements of the ordinance."
"There are other issues that are subject to an ongoing investigation and I can't comment further," said Maurer.
Calaveras County Sheriff Rick DiBasilio led the raid that seized more than 2.5 tons of cannabis products from the three units at the old county airport. Three different processing operations were working in the large steel building, Egozi said.
DiBasilio said 37 workers from the units were arrested on Thursday. By Monday, 15 people — some from Central America and Mexico and some from as far away at Bulgaria and Iceland — had been booked into Calaveras County Jail on felony charges of growing marijuana and conspiracy to commit a crime. DiBasilio said 22 workers were cited and released.
Egozi said the Sheriff's Office raid took 880 pounds of cannabis products from his business at Unit B.
"It was destroyed onsite and without due process," he said.
"We'd hate to have to file a lawsuit against the county, but sometimes that is the only viable legal option in a situation like this," he said. "The rights and well-being of our patients come first."
He said his product is "mostly donated" and is very low in the psychoactive element that produces a "high." He said his firm's cannabis is used by people who suffer from serious epilepsy or tremor disorders.
Egozi issued a statement on Monday that said Calaveras Cannabis Inc. was legally occupying Unit B of the building. Egozi said he and the company were in full compliance with California and Calaveras County laws.
He said none of his employees were foreigners or working without documentation.
News Moderator: Katelyn Baker 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: Owner May Sue Over Destruction Of Cannabis Business At Old Airport
Author: Terry Grillo
Contact: 209-754-3861
Photo Credit: Nick Oza
Website: Calavveras Enterprise
