A woman arrested on two separate occasions for running marijuana dispensaries in Kent County was sentenced to jail Monday by a judge who told her “ignorance of the law is no excuse.’’
GRAND RAPIDS, MICH. (WZZM) – A woman arrested on two separate occasions for running marijuana dispensaries in Kent County was sentenced to jail Monday by a judge who told her “ignorance of the law is no excuse.’’
Eileen Dee Shaw, 52, said she did everything she could to operate within the confines of Michigan’s Medical Marijuana Act while running dispensaries in Cascade and Plainfield townships.
“I made every effort to try to understand the law and comply with it. I truly just wanted to help people,’’ she told Kent County Circuit Court Judge George Quist on Monday. “It was with every good intent that approached this. I truly just wanted to help medical marijuana patients.’’
The Michigan Supreme Court in Feb. 2013 ruled that dispensaries are not protected under Michigan’s Medical Marijuana Act, although enforcement varies county-to-county. Kent County law enforcement in the last two years have conducted more than a dozen raids, including February and May, 2014 raids at Eco Options dispensaries operated by Shaw.
“Ignorance of the law is no excuse; you’ve probably heard that old adage and it’s true,’’ Quist said.
Shaw’s troubles began when the aroma from her Eco-Options dispensary on Cascade Road SE drew complaints from a neighboring business.
In Feb. 2014, members of the Kent Area Narcotics Enforcement Team conducted an undercover buy of about five grams of marijuana from the store. A month later, they got a search warrant and retrieved processed marijuana, marijuana-infused snacks and hard candy, hash oil, hash and drug paraphernalia, court records show.
Within two months of the Cascade Township raid, Shaw reopened a second Eco Options store on Plainfield Avenue near East Beltline Avenue NE. A police raid soon followed. A May, 2014 search of the business turned up marijuana, marijuana-infused products, hash, THC oil, marijuana candies and drug paraphernalia, court records show.
Shaw, who was present during the May raid, told KANET officers she allowed medical marijuana patients to obtain products in exchange for donations, court records show. “Shaw further said that there are approximately 200 members in the business,’’ a KANET officer wrote in a probable cause affidavit.
Shaw was arrested and charged with seven marijuana-related offenses from both operations. Her son, 26-year-old Jared Reed was charged with selling marijuana and hash oil to an undercover informant at the Plainfield Township business.
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Jared Reed (Photo: Custom)
The two took the case to trial, rejecting a plea deal that would have resulted in no jail time. A Kent County jury in March convicted them on several counts, including delivery/manufacture of marijuana, a four-year felony.
“On the trial date or certainly shortly before that you were offered a deal where the prosecutor said you wouldn’t have to spend any jail time and you could get probation and they’d drop the charge against your son,’’ Quist told Shaw prior to sentencing. “That was the deal that was offered. You just rejected that.
“Instead, you wanted to go to trial and a lot of resources were spent trying this case,’’ Quist said. “The jury convicted you of six separate counts of delivering and manufacturing marijuana and of maintaining a drug house.’’
Quist sentenced Shaw to 270 days in the Kent County Jail, but with credit for time already served, she’ll serve a little less than 7 months. Reed was sentenced 90 days, but with credit for time served he’ll be out in about a month.
The judge sentenced them both to straight jail time along with fines and court costs; no probation was ordered. “You’ve kind of been through enough rigmarole I think,’’ he told Reed.
Meanwhile, efforts are underway in Lansing that would allow tightly-regulated medical marijuana dispensaries to operate in Michigan. The state House in October approved plans to create a highly-regulated medical marijuana industry that would allow patients to purchase marijuana products at storefront dispensaries, such as Eco Options.
(© 2016 WZZM)
Source: Woman who ran two marijuana dispensaries in Kent County gets jail, lecture from judge
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