buckaroo bonzai
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Jail guards accused of marijuana offenses reject plea deal, charges >still< reduced
The faces of folks who play both sides....remember them-yikes!
Kent county....what a place-
Michael Christopher FrederickKent County Jail
Todd Randolph VanDoorneKent County Jail
GRAND RAPIDS, MI – Two Kent County corrections officers facing marijuana charges have refused plea bargain offers that likely would have kept them out of prison while requiring them to resign from their jobs
Although Mike Frederick and Todd VanDoorne have turned down the plea deal, prosecutors have reduced the allegations against the jail workers to delivery and manufacturing of marijuana, a possible four-year offense, from the seven-year felony of delivery and manufacturing of a controlled substance.
Under the terms of the rejected deal, the corrections officers would have had to resign from their jobs, testify against their fellow officers - Timothy Bernhardt and Brian Tennant are also charged -- and agree to waive any claims under the Michigan Medical Marijuana Act. The allegations against Bernhardt and Tennant were also reduced, and they still have the same offer open to them.
Because the two officers had an evidentiary hearing Monday, the offer, which called for guilty pleas to maintaining a drug house, is no longer on the table. That crime carries a two-year maximum, but with little or no criminal record, the officers would have been unlikely to receive more than jail time.
Frederick and VanDoorne appeared at a Monday, June 30, hearing to try and bolster their argument that their arrests violated the Michigan Medical Marijuana Act, which prohibits using MMMA registration as evidence while seeking warrants for marijuana law violations.
Defense attorneys contend that Kent County narcotics officers showed up without warrants after finding medical marijuana cards with the suspects names on them during another drug investigation in Plainfield Township. The lawyers also argued that they were directed by department administrators to roust the corrections officers at night, an allegation detectives denied.
Assistant Kent County Prosecutor James Benison said search warrants were not obtained against the corrections officers and the suspects agreed to cooperate without being threatened or coerced.
Attorney Bruce Block, representing VanDoorne, pointed out that when a superior officer is at a subordinate’s home in the middle of the night, there is an implied threat.
Block has also been able to get his client's charges reduced to possession of marijuana, punishable by one year in jail, and maintaining a drug house, a two-year offense.
Police also disputed the attorneys contentions that the late-night so-called "knock and talk" contacts with people in an investigation are not conducted in the middle of the night.
The officers became part of the drug investigation after U.S. Postal Service workers told police about an intercepted package of marijuana on March 17. That led to a search warrant at the Belmont home of Timothy and Alyssa Scherzer, who acted as medical marijuana caregivers.
Timothy Scherzer allegedly told police that provided marijuana butter to patients. The Scherzers face four charges of delivery and manufacture of a controlled substance and maintaining a drug house.
Police then interviewed the corrections officers on March 18, authorities said.
If this was me or you we would be fucked!
-double standards for men in blue caught up
http://www.mlive.com/news/grand-rapids/index.ssf/2014/06/corrections_officers_charged_w_1.html
Jail guards accused of marijuana offenses reject plea deal, charges >still< reduced
The faces of folks who play both sides....remember them-yikes!
Kent county....what a place-
GRAND RAPIDS, MI – Two Kent County corrections officers facing marijuana charges have refused plea bargain offers that likely would have kept them out of prison while requiring them to resign from their jobs
Although Mike Frederick and Todd VanDoorne have turned down the plea deal, prosecutors have reduced the allegations against the jail workers to delivery and manufacturing of marijuana, a possible four-year offense, from the seven-year felony of delivery and manufacturing of a controlled substance.
Under the terms of the rejected deal, the corrections officers would have had to resign from their jobs, testify against their fellow officers - Timothy Bernhardt and Brian Tennant are also charged -- and agree to waive any claims under the Michigan Medical Marijuana Act. The allegations against Bernhardt and Tennant were also reduced, and they still have the same offer open to them.
Because the two officers had an evidentiary hearing Monday, the offer, which called for guilty pleas to maintaining a drug house, is no longer on the table. That crime carries a two-year maximum, but with little or no criminal record, the officers would have been unlikely to receive more than jail time.
Frederick and VanDoorne appeared at a Monday, June 30, hearing to try and bolster their argument that their arrests violated the Michigan Medical Marijuana Act, which prohibits using MMMA registration as evidence while seeking warrants for marijuana law violations.
Defense attorneys contend that Kent County narcotics officers showed up without warrants after finding medical marijuana cards with the suspects names on them during another drug investigation in Plainfield Township. The lawyers also argued that they were directed by department administrators to roust the corrections officers at night, an allegation detectives denied.
Assistant Kent County Prosecutor James Benison said search warrants were not obtained against the corrections officers and the suspects agreed to cooperate without being threatened or coerced.
Attorney Bruce Block, representing VanDoorne, pointed out that when a superior officer is at a subordinate’s home in the middle of the night, there is an implied threat.
Block has also been able to get his client's charges reduced to possession of marijuana, punishable by one year in jail, and maintaining a drug house, a two-year offense.
Police also disputed the attorneys contentions that the late-night so-called "knock and talk" contacts with people in an investigation are not conducted in the middle of the night.
The officers became part of the drug investigation after U.S. Postal Service workers told police about an intercepted package of marijuana on March 17. That led to a search warrant at the Belmont home of Timothy and Alyssa Scherzer, who acted as medical marijuana caregivers.
Timothy Scherzer allegedly told police that provided marijuana butter to patients. The Scherzers face four charges of delivery and manufacture of a controlled substance and maintaining a drug house.
Police then interviewed the corrections officers on March 18, authorities said.
If this was me or you we would be fucked!
-double standards for men in blue caught up
http://www.mlive.com/news/grand-rapids/index.ssf/2014/06/corrections_officers_charged_w_1.html
