Eddy Lepp - Busted again with 6,000 plants

[viper]

Updates;-


http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2005/02/18/BAGM9BDOIK1.DTL

SAN FRANCISCO
2 men face charges after marijuana sting

Henry K. Lee
Friday, February 18, 2005

A Lake County medical marijuana activist and an acquaintance face federal
marijuana charges after agreeing to sell a potent type of marijuana to an
undercover agent, authorities said Thursday.

Charles "Eddy" Lepp, 52, and Daniel Barnes, 25, appeared Thursday in U.S.
District Court in San Francisco on charges of marijuana distribution,
conspiracy to distribute marijuana and maintaining a premise to cultivate
marijuana.

On Jan. 19, the two offered to sell a pound of marijuana with a high content
of active ingredient THC for $2,500 to an undercover Sonoma County sheriff's
detective, the federal complaint said.

A search Wednesday of several properties linked to Lepp in Lake County
yielded 6,300 plants and 26 pounds of processed and partially processed
marijuana, said Drug Enforcement Administration spokesman Richard Meyer.

Lepp had already been facing charges related to an August raid of his
property that yielded 35,000 plants, Meyer said.


Sunday, February 20, 2005

Article Last Updated: Saturday, February 19, 2005 - 6:14:20 AM PST
Marijuana grower pleads not guilty to federal drug charges

John Lindblom

Record-Bee staff

SAN FRANCISCO -- A day after his arrest on federal drug charges, a Lake
County marijuana grower was in court for arraignment.

Charles "Eddy" Lepp was charged with distribution of marijuana, conspiracy
to distribute marijuana and maintaining a premise for the purpose of
cultivating marijuana before U.S. Magistrate Maria Elena James in a federal
court in San Francisco on Thursday, according to a Drug Enforcement
Administration (DEA) report.

The new charges against Lepp, all in violation of federal drug laws,
stemfrom a DEA Task Force undercover operation on Jan. 19 in which Lepp is
alleged to have negotiated for the sale and purchase of one pound of dried
and processed marijuana.

Also charged in Thursday's federal court session was Daniel Barnes, who was
arrested along with Lepp in a Wednesday morning raid on Lepp's Upper Lake
property by 34 DEA and local law enforcement officers.

Lepp pleaded not guilty to the charges, said his attorney, Dennis Roberts of
Oakland.

The DEA reported its undercover task force officer was wearing a concealed
audio transmittal device when he met with Lepp to feign the purchase of
marijuana. Conversation transmitted by the device was monitored and recorded
by other DEA agents observing the undercover meeting.

During the meeting, the DEA alleges Lepp told the undercover task force
officer that he possessed a strain of cannabis that would make White Widow
-- a marijuana strain that contains a high content of tetrahydrocannibinol
(THC), the psychoactive substance in marijuana -- pale by comparison.

At no point during these negotiations, according to the DEA report, was the
subject of "medical marijuana" used. Lepp has continuously claimed that he
has grown marijuana only for medical use, which exempts him from prosecution
under California law.

The DEA's criminal complaint states that Lepp agreed to sell one pound of
high THC marijuana for $2,500. It adds that Barnes acted as go-between in
the illegal transaction, delivering the marijuana and taking the $2,500.

Roberts, Lepp's attorney, branded the new charges as "outrageous and bogus"
and again charged that the DEA is taking "retaliatory" action because Lepp
has used the federal court to force the agency to return personal property
seized in raids prior to Wednesday's.

"I don't know how Eddy could possibly be involved in a sale," said Roberts.

"Eddy is too smart to involve himself (in drug sales) while he is under
indictment. This is obviously retaliatory for forcing them (the DEA) to turn
over his property."

As a separate action, Thursday the DEA, responding to an order issued
earlier by a federal magistrate, did return some of Lepp's property, Roberts
said. But he added that it was not all of the property and came from only
one raid.

Still missing, said Roberts, are Lepp's records of patients, which Roberts
said will be crucial to his defense. Roberts vowed that the effort to
recover Lepp's property will continue.

After Thursday's reading of the new indictment against him, Lepp was
returned to the Marin County Jail, Roberts reported. Lepp will appear in
court again today for appointment of new counsel, said Roberts, who said he
will be assuming a lesser role in Lepp's defense.

Lepp's new lawyer is expected to be San Francisco attorney Steve Fermino.

Lepp will return to court on Tuesday, Feb. 22, for setting of bail on the
new charges.

Roberts said the charges that already existed against Lepp before
Wednesday's raid will most likely be combined with the new ones in a single
indictment, a legal process known as "superseding."

The new charges, which also include the 6,300 plants seized in the Wednesday
raid on Lepp's property, were announced in the DEA's Thursday report.

The new charges, alone, carry a 10-year prison sentence if Lepp is
convicted.

___________________________________________________________

Anyone else think he just tarred us all with the same brush, or is it just me ?
_________________
Never Trust A Hippie !

www.viperslair.co.uk

[viper]

Updates;-


http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2005/02/18/BAGM9BDOIK1.DTL

SAN FRANCISCO
2 men face charges after marijuana sting

Henry K. Lee
Friday, February 18, 2005

A Lake County medical marijuana activist and an acquaintance face federal
marijuana charges after agreeing to sell a potent type of marijuana to an
undercover agent, authorities said Thursday.

Charles "Eddy" Lepp, 52, and Daniel Barnes, 25, appeared Thursday in U.S.
District Court in San Francisco on charges of marijuana distribution,
conspiracy to distribute marijuana and maintaining a premise to cultivate
marijuana.

On Jan. 19, the two offered to sell a pound of marijuana with a high content
of active ingredient THC for $2,500 to an undercover Sonoma County sheriff's
detective, the federal complaint said.

A search Wednesday of several properties linked to Lepp in Lake County
yielded 6,300 plants and 26 pounds of processed and partially processed
marijuana, said Drug Enforcement Administration spokesman Richard Meyer.

Lepp had already been facing charges related to an August raid of his
property that yielded 35,000 plants, Meyer said.


Sunday, February 20, 2005

Article Last Updated: Saturday, February 19, 2005 - 6:14:20 AM PST
Marijuana grower pleads not guilty to federal drug charges

John Lindblom

Record-Bee staff

SAN FRANCISCO -- A day after his arrest on federal drug charges, a Lake
County marijuana grower was in court for arraignment.

Charles "Eddy" Lepp was charged with distribution of marijuana, conspiracy
to distribute marijuana and maintaining a premise for the purpose of
cultivating marijuana before U.S. Magistrate Maria Elena James in a federal
court in San Francisco on Thursday, according to a Drug Enforcement
Administration (DEA) report.

The new charges against Lepp, all in violation of federal drug laws,
stemfrom a DEA Task Force undercover operation on Jan. 19 in which Lepp is
alleged to have negotiated for the sale and purchase of one pound of dried
and processed marijuana.

Also charged in Thursday's federal court session was Daniel Barnes, who was
arrested along with Lepp in a Wednesday morning raid on Lepp's Upper Lake
property by 34 DEA and local law enforcement officers.

Lepp pleaded not guilty to the charges, said his attorney, Dennis Roberts of
Oakland.

The DEA reported its undercover task force officer was wearing a concealed
audio transmittal device when he met with Lepp to feign the purchase of
marijuana. Conversation transmitted by the device was monitored and recorded
by other DEA agents observing the undercover meeting.

During the meeting, the DEA alleges Lepp told the undercover task force
officer that he possessed a strain of cannabis that would make White Widow
-- a marijuana strain that contains a high content of tetrahydrocannibinol
(THC), the psychoactive substance in marijuana -- pale by comparison.

At no point during these negotiations, according to the DEA report, was the
subject of "medical marijuana" used. Lepp has continuously claimed that he
has grown marijuana only for medical use, which exempts him from prosecution
under California law.

The DEA's criminal complaint states that Lepp agreed to sell one pound of
high THC marijuana for $2,500. It adds that Barnes acted as go-between in
the illegal transaction, delivering the marijuana and taking the $2,500.

Roberts, Lepp's attorney, branded the new charges as "outrageous and bogus"
and again charged that the DEA is taking "retaliatory" action because Lepp
has used the federal court to force the agency to return personal property
seized in raids prior to Wednesday's.

"I don't know how Eddy could possibly be involved in a sale," said Roberts.

"Eddy is too smart to involve himself (in drug sales) while he is under
indictment. This is obviously retaliatory for forcing them (the DEA) to turn
over his property."

As a separate action, Thursday the DEA, responding to an order issued
earlier by a federal magistrate, did return some of Lepp's property, Roberts
said. But he added that it was not all of the property and came from only
one raid.

Still missing, said Roberts, are Lepp's records of patients, which Roberts
said will be crucial to his defense. Roberts vowed that the effort to
recover Lepp's property will continue.

After Thursday's reading of the new indictment against him, Lepp was
returned to the Marin County Jail, Roberts reported. Lepp will appear in
court again today for appointment of new counsel, said Roberts, who said he
will be assuming a lesser role in Lepp's defense.

Lepp's new lawyer is expected to be San Francisco attorney Steve Fermino.

Lepp will return to court on Tuesday, Feb. 22, for setting of bail on the
new charges.

Roberts said the charges that already existed against Lepp before
Wednesday's raid will most likely be combined with the new ones in a single
indictment, a legal process known as "superseding."

The new charges, which also include the 6,300 plants seized in the Wednesday
raid on Lepp's property, were announced in the DEA's Thursday report.

The new charges, alone, carry a 10-year prison sentence if Lepp is
convicted.

___________________________________________________________

Anyone else think he just tarred us all with the same brush, or is it just me ?
_________________
Never Trust A Hippie !

www.viperslair.co.uk

[Echo]

It's sad... with all the effort he put on his cause and having it all wiped out, what a loss!
_________________