Second Tainted Sentencing: No Prison, No Drug Tests for Michael Anderson
Written by Vanessa Nelson http://www.medicalmarijuanaofamerica.com/content/view/209/1/
Anderson was the last of his co-defendants to accept a guilty plea, but this was not because he was the most hesitant. He was simply the most geographically remote amongst them. Since last year’s raid of Tainted Inc., Anderson has been living with his family in rural Georgia. An earlier attempt to fly him in for a change of plea hearing failed – a miscommunication about his access to email prevented him from receiving his flight itinerary from his attorney. 
But yesterday morning, Anderson finally made it to the Oakland federal courthouse in time…only to be delayed once again by an emergency evacuation drill that left court employees milling around the courtyard in hordes for the better part of an hour. Once Anderson finally got in front of Magistrate Judge Wayne Brazil, however, the proceedings flowed without a snag.
Waiting across the country, Anderson has been anticipating resolution in this case since last September. That’s when the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Food & Drug Administration raided his employer, a manufacturer of marijuana-infused food products. The business had begun as Tainted Truffles, but when it caught the DEA’s attention, the company was better known as Tainted Inc.
At the time of the DEA investigation, Tainted Inc. was most popular for its knock-offs of classic candy treats. Its product that resembled “Butterfinger,” for instance, had a label design that mimicked that of the mainstream candy bar, but called the marijuana-infused version “Buddafinga” and declared it to be “diggety, dankity, peanut-buttery!”
According to its own newsletters, the DEA first encountered the “Buddafinga” candy bar in early 2004. It was submitted as evidence by a merchant marine who had failed a random drug test and was defending himself by claiming he had unknowingly eaten a product containing THC. Given the different name and all of the warning labels on the product, the DEA was skeptical of claims of accidental ingestion. Nonetheless, the agency was very interested in leads on the source of the marijuana-infused products. It put out a call for information, and a confidential informant promptly answered the call.
Tainted Inc.’s products were distributed only to patients with a doctor’s approval, whose use was lawful under California’s 1996 voter-enacted Proposition 215. But this provided no protection for Tainted Inc. once the DEA began sniffing around – Proposition 215 is a state law, and, as a federal agency, the DEA does not recognize any state laws relating to medical marijuana. During the series of searches and arrests executed in September 2007, Tainted Inc.’s operations were considered a criminal drug-manufacturing enterprise.
The remaining two Tainted Inc. defendants were only charged with misdemeanors, so their cases resolved quickly and with happier endings. On April 7th, Diallo McLinn was sentenced to two years of probation and a $25 special assessment fee for a single count of aiding and abetting the possession of marijuana. Michael Anderson received the same sentence yesterday, except that Judge Wayne Brazil exempted him from the drug testing requirement. That exemption was an unexpected decision that followed many sections of commentary from the characteristically animated and conversational Judge Brazil.
In fact, the judge’s tangential musings began even before the attorneys had finished introducing their appearances for the case. When Anderson was presented as having just flown in from Georgia to make the hearing, the courtroom was treated to Judge Brazil’s autobiographical meditations. “I was born in Fort Benning, Georgia, during World War II,” he revealed.
But this was not just a fleeting comment or a footnote, and when the judge continued with reflections about this experience, listeners began to wonder if they were going to hear his entire life story. “Frankly, I don’t have any memory of it,” he continued. “I was only there for eight months.” Even in the absence of memory, Judge Brazil still had more to say about Fort Benning, stating that he didn’t care to ever return there, but ultimately deciding there were other parts of Georgia that he might be more inclined to visit.
By the time the judge came back to the business at hand, he seemed to be so absorbed in other musings that he accidentally mixed up the purpose of the hearing. After mistakenly saying that Anderson was appearing in order to change his plea from guilty to not guilty, Judge Brazil made the correction and then knocked himself on the head in a comical gesture.
Anderson then went through the standard procedure of stating his age, his educational background, his mental and emotional competence for decision-making, and his satisfaction with his legal representation. The defendant was waiving his rights to an indictment and to a jury trial, and the judge wanted him to be very sure about the ramifications of this choice. “The right to a jury trial is a big deal,” Judge Brazil declared, making expansive gestures with his hands.
But Anderson confidently asserted that he wanted to proceed with the guilty plea, and it soon came time for the reading of the factual basis for the charge against him. At this point, Judge Brazil frowned down at the documents in front of him. “This is an infelicitous way of phrasing this,” he criticized, “but, with respect to the two locations given in the charge, during the time frame relating to the charge –” The judge broke off the sentence there, perturbed by having to repeatedly flip though pages of the document to find the actual places and dates that were referenced. “This is a very crappy way to write this!” he said, his voice chastising.
The prosecutor apologized, offering that the dates were between May and September of 2007, and the judge then went on with the description of the charges. “…Between May and September of 2007, that you assisted other people in obtaining marijuana and that you knew that doing so was against the law,” he continued. “Are both of those things true?”
Anderson answered in the affirmative, standing at the podium with his head held high. Judge Brazil, of course, made an extra comment to be doubly sure the defendant understood what was meant by the intent provision in the charge. “The government would be required to prove that you were knowingly aiding and abetting the possession of marijuana,” the judge explained. “In other words, that you didn’t think it was cabbage.”
Anderson, smiling brightly, agreed that he understood this requirement. He then assented with his counsel’s request to waive a pre-trial services report and go straight to sentencing. On behalf of his client, defense attorney Jerome Matthews also offered a few words of praise. “He impressed me that his conduct was wrong and a poor example to his children, and all he wants to do is get back to them and to his role in life.”
It was a sentiment that was echoed in Anderson’s own statement to the court. “I’m sorry for breaking the law – it’s not my style and it won’t happen again,” he told the judge. “I just wanted to say that you have treated me very well and very fairly, allowing me to return to my home and my children, and I thank you for the way you’ve treated me this whole time.”
Judge Brazil, nodding his head benevolently at the remarks, returned Anderson’s gratitude. Then he embarked on his final commentary of the hearing, working his way up to the actual imposition of the sentence. “In a democracy, you have to understand who makes the rules,” he began. “There are a lot of rules here, in my position, that I must enforce, even if I don’t happen to like them…” The judge’s statement wandered off, as he became increasingly self-conscious of where his narrative was leading him.
“I shouldn’t say too much about this,” he explained, speaking slowly and cautiously. “In this particular case, there are lots of very humane reasons on this one side.” The judge hesitated again, and then added, “But there’s also a lot of good old-fashioned human greed too.”
With that, Judge Brazil announced Anderson’s sentence – two years probation, to be served in Georgia, a $25 special assessment, and conditions, which included the prohibition of firearms. However, the judge noted, he would suspend the drug testing unless there was some other probation violation down the road.
But Anderson had admirers of his own. “He’s a great guy,” Martin said yesterday. “He’s like a brother to me.”
Martin has now watched two of his co-defendants receive sentences of probation, but he’s not as optimistic about his own chances of avoiding incarceration. “I’m probably going to prison,” Martin said while watching Anderson depart. “Maybe I can get house arrest, but, if not, I’ll be going in.”
