How the police tried to steal millions in cash from legal cannabis companies

This article originally appeared on Cannabis.net and has been republished with permission.

One of the biggest problems with running a legal cannabis business is money. With cannabis still illegal in the eyes of the federal government, it’s almost impossible to keep the money you’ve made from your state-licensed cannabis business anywhere else. And that leads to another problem: security.

Since most licensed cannabis companies operate and transact almost exclusively with cash, they have become a prime target for thieves and muggers. They had to resort to other creative solutions to ensure their legally earned cash winnings were safe, and turned to businesses like transporting cash in armored cars. And then there are bad apples like Sheriff Shannon Dicus, who comes and takes advantage of the situation.

Photo by Olena Ruban/Getty Images

Who is Sheriff Shannon Dicus?

Dicus is the 36th sheriff-coroner appointed for San Bernardino County in California, the largest county in the United States.

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The sheriff’s campaign website says he is a “proven public safety leader for San Bernardino County.” However, he has run a very dirty scam that is hurting legal cannabis entrepreneurs. Under the US Department of Justice’s Fair Distribution Program, the Sheriff’s Department can keep up to 80% of money collected through civil confiscations, except in California, legal cannabis money cannot be seized by the police.

The crime

Investigations revealed that San Bernardino lawmakers seized cannabis funds from armored cars and then turned them over to the FBI on the grounds that it should be used as evidence in an investigation.

From November 2021 to January 2022, Empyreal Logistics armored trucks transporting money from cannabis companies had to give up around $1.1 million in cash from legal cannabis sales. Reports from the San Bernardino Sun state that Dicus believed the confiscations carried out by his department were justified.

“During the stop, the deputy made additional observations, including conflicting statements from the driver and company officials, leading the deputy to believe the contents of the van were illegal proceeds of illegal drug sales,” Dicus said, referring to a Nov. 16 seizure from an Empyreal van.

Deputy J. Franco obtained a search warrant and then seized $700,000 rightfully belonging to four state-licensed marijuana businesses.

Photo by Yarygin/Getty Images

Then something similar happened again on December 9th. The same Empyreal van changed lanes without a signal. It was also discovered that they used a document to instruct the Empyreal driver on how to react should he be stopped by law enforcement. “The document specifically instructed the driver to ‘never say the words cannabis or marijuana,’ and ‘never say the names of the banks or customers we serve.” A whopping $350,000 was seized from Empyreal that day.

As with the November stop, no subpoenas were issued.

As of Jan. 6, the date of the third seizure, Empyreal had suspended the movement of cannabis funds in San Bernardino County because of the previous raids. Instead, they transported rolled coins that were not related to the cannabis industry.

Again, they didn’t issue subpoenas, but the Empyreal driver asked the deputy why their cars were always being attacked, the deputy just said it was political and didn’t elaborate.

Empyreal strikes back

On January 14, 2022, Empyreal filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court demanding that Sheriff Dicus, along with DEA ​​Administrator Anne Milgram and FBI Director Christopher Wray, cease attacks on the Empyreal transporters. They stated that the seizures were “freeway robberies”. Dicus felt the lawsuit was “no more than a crusade against interest groups and a blatant attempt to interfere with ongoing local criminal investigations.”

According to Empyreal, “MPs had planned the stop in advance and would have stopped the driver and Empyreal vehicles regardless of how carefully or lawfully it was being driven.” After all, it has become clear that they were just after the money and trying to get away with their dirty scam. MPs claimed a drug-sniffing dog alerted them to the van, although Empyreal denies this: “Video footage from the vehicle does not show the dog warning on the vehicle. Instead, it shows that the dog is hardly interested in the vehicle.”

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However, the Empyreal van had a recording of the security audio system. It was heard that MPs were pleased with the confiscated $700,000 and therefore disappointed at the smaller size the second time around.

Injustice for Justice, a not-for-profit law firm specializing in civil forfeiture cases, has been retained by Empyreal. “We are pleased to have helped Empyreal achieve a successful outcome and return to business operations in San Bernardino County,” said Senior Attorney Dan Alban. “We will continue to take action against the civil forfeiture nationwide at the state and federal levels,” he says.

Because of this, Dicus changed his stance. On May 6, the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department responded, saying they will continue to work against “illegal marijuana cultivation and criminal enterprises” while keeping Empyreal out of the picture. “Both sides also recognize that Empyreal is part of the solution to help provide financial transparency and that San Bernardino deputies are not muggers, as previously reported in the media,” the Sheriff’s Department said in a press release.

Conclusion

Sheriff Dicus is a prime example of what can go wrong when the police aren’t careful about what’s happening to the cops. Don’t let your cops treat you like shit like he did.

This article originally appeared on Cannabis.net and has been republished with permission.