A former Republican Michigan House speaker accepted more than $100,000 in bribes from would-be cannabis business operators in exchange for help obtaining licenses, federal prosecutors said Thursday.
The corruption allegations unveiled Thursday against Rick Johnson, 70, and three others amount to “the largest public corruption scandal in the state’s capital in 30 years,” according to The Detroit News.
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Johnson served as speaker of the state House from 2001 to 2004 and later chaired Michigan’s medical marijuana board from 2017 to 2019,
It is also the latest example of public corruption connected to preferential licensing in legal marijuana – and perhaps the most high-profile case to date.
According to U.S. Attorney Mark Totten of the Western District of Michigan, Johnson, took “cash and benefits from at least two companies” and later voted in favor of granting them licenses.
The companies were not identified, but one was operated
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