Prince of Pot Deals

I am sure you all have heard that Marc Emery caved the other day and agreed to a plea bargain. The deal means Marc is headed to prison for a minimum of five years. The good news is most of that time will be in a Canadian prison not a US prison. The U.S. Assistant District Attorney Todd Greenberg apparently offered the deal.

Considering Emery’s apparent willingness to martyr himself to the U.S. system the move seems to be a surprise. Emery said that the reason he took the deal was to save his two co-accused.

The U.S. District Attorney’s office does not need to accept the offer either, they could still try to nail Emery and his cohorts to the full extent of the law, which could mean life sentences.

What is really disconcerting about this case is that in Canada the crime Emery is being accused of has rarely been enforced, and when it is it has carried the stiff penalty of a $200 fine. But because Emery mailed the seed across the boarder the U.S. Government is able to snatch up a Canadian citizen and throw them in jail for life. I don’t know about you, but I find the ramifications of that very troubling.

Consider the Patriot Act and all the clout it grants, what if the U.S. decides to start filing for extradition of Canadian citizens based on that draconian law, or what if they draft new laws that are worse. Perhaps it is alarmist of me, and perhaps I just don’t trust the American government, but is it really all that far fetched? We are talking about a country that has a police force called “Homeland Security” that has powers well beyond the already power mad “intelligence” agencies in place pre 9-11.

American lawyers will probably accept Emery’s deal, it is a politically charged situation that the Canadian government wants to go away, and the American government has already admitted Emery is being charged almost exclusively for political reasons. No one wants a trial except Emery who risks two others if he does allow it to go to trial.