An attorney for the alleged mastermind of an illegal interstate marijuana operation based in Maine claimed that a Congressional act intended to shield legal marijuana businesses from federal prosecution also protects his client.
According to federal prosecutors, Lucas Sirois was the kingpin of a criminal scheme in which marijuana was grown legally under Maine medical cannabis law but sold on the illicit market, including in other states.
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An attorney for Sirois – who has pleaded not guilty to conspiracy to distribute drugs, money laundering, fraud and tax evasion – is attempting to convince a judge that a move by Congress shields him from prosecution, the Bangor Daily News reported.
In 2015, Congress passed a budget rider called the Rohrabacher-Farr Amendment, which prohibits the Department of Justice from using federal funds to meddle with state-legal cannabis businesses.
Now called the Joyce-Blumenauer Amendment, subsequent sessions of Congress have renewed
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