This just in from the Vancouver Sun! The Marc Emery plea bargain has been blocked by the Canadian government! article text follows:

Prince of Pot's deal with U.S. shot down by Ottawa

Ian Mulgrew
Vancouver Sun
story source

Friday, March 28, 2008

A tentative deal between Marc Emery, Vancouver's Prince of Pot, and the U.S. government over money-laundering and drug charges has been nixed by Ottawa.

Emery says the Conservative administration has refused to go along with a proposal that would have seen him spend five years behind bars for selling marijuana seeds through the mail.

Under the defunct pact, Emery was to plead guilty on both sides of the border and accept a sentence of 10 years imprisonment on the understanding he would serve half, mostly in Canada.

"All that was required for this deal was a rubber stamp from the federal government," Emery told me late Thursday. "They have, instead, rejected the deal without explanation . . . it is clearly political."

The longtime cannabis crusader said he originally agreed to the jail time in part to spare his associates and co-accused Michelle Rainey and Greg Williams from prosecution and prison.

"I was willing, the Americans were willing and all that we needed was the Conservative government to also agree," the 50-year-old said. "I certainly didn't think that would be a problem.

"After all, I was agreeing to serve five years for a crime that would result in little over a month in jail for any one of the many seed-sellers operating then, and now, in Vancouver and across Canada."The trio was charged in August 2005 after a raid by local police and American law-enforcement agents on Emery's downtown Vancouver headquarters. They were accused of violating U.S. laws even though none had ventured south of the border.

Emery was the primary target, in particular because of his decade-long campaign to end the criminal prohibition against cannabis in North America.

"The Americans targeted me for my political views and activism," he said. "And now my own government won't go along with an American-endorsed deal because they want me gone."

U.S. prosecutors have offered Williams and Rainey jail sentences in the three-to-five-month range and probation in exchange for guilty pleas. Both are mulling it over.

Rainey, who suffers from Crohn's disease, was Emery's long-time right-hand but has since become one of the country's leading medical marijuana advocates. A guilty plea in exchange for a brief term of incarceration would allow her to get on with her life and bring an end to these tribulations.

"It's in the hands of my lawyer," she said. "But it may be the best option under the circumstances."

Emery fumed: "Depriving her of medicine by sending her to the U.S. amounts to nothing less than cruelty."

For Williams, too, the deal is attractive compared to the prospect of facing a long extradition fight, a trial in the U.S. and then potentially a 10- to 20-plus-year sentence in an American penitentiary. "It is hard for me to believe that marijuana is even illegal, much less that I'm facing the possibility of life in prison," he told me. "I'm stunned that our government can't deal with cannabis in our society in an adult way."

Emery's collapsed plea bargain would have expedited the legal process and saved everyone a lot of time and money.

The flamboyant and often outrageous activist now is prepared to mount a lengthy and strident fight against extradition.

Emery has flouted the law for more than a decade. He has run in federal, provincial and civic elections promoting his pro-cannabis platform.

He has championed legal marijuana at parliamentary hearings, on national television, at celebrity conferences, in his own magazine, Cannabis Culture, and on his own Internet channel, Pot TV.

The political landscape has changed dramatically as a result of Emery's politicking for cannabis.

Health Canada even recommended medical marijuana patients buy their seeds from Emery.

From 1998 until his arrest, Emery even paid provincial and federal taxes as a "marijuana seed vendor" totaling nearly $600,000.

"Over the last 10 years, I operated openly and transparently," Emery insisted.

"Six times a year, I sent every Member of Parliament a copy of my seed catalogue. I donated tens of thousands to politicians of every party, at every level of government. They all gladly cashed my cheques knowing full well the source of the money. Under the definition of the law, they are all guilty of money laundering, the very crime I'm being extradited for."

Kirk Tousaw, one of the lawyers involved in the defence team, said the government's stance seemed to run counter to the country's "traditional commitment to freedom, justice and compassion."

"We know that most Canadians understand that marijuana is a relatively harmless plant that should not be illegal," he said.

The governing Conservatives, however, do not hold such a view and are moving to stiffen the punishment for marijuana offences, including imposing mandatory jail time on those caught with even a small number of pot plants.

The last time Emery was convicted in Canada of selling cannabis seeds, back in 1998, he was given a $2,000 fine.

Only a few weeks ago, the B.C. Court of Appeal suggested the proper sentence for someone convicted of selling seeds by mail was a month or two in jail and a year or so on probation.

Since Emery was arrested, many have called on Ottawa to prevent his extradition and, if necessary, prosecute him here instead.

The federal government has stood back and refused to intervene since the extradition request from the U.S. was approved under the previous Liberal government.

Attempts to derail the extradition process by having Emery privately charged in Canada were blocked by the Crown.

Emery's friends have collected tens-of-thousands of signatures on a petition decrying this as a travesty of justice.

The National Post editorial board condemned it as a loss of Canadian sovereignty.

"I'm disappointed," Emery acknowledged. "Not for myself," he added, "because I've been fighting for freedom for decades and I'm prepared to keep doing it. I'm disappointed for my co-accused. And I'm afraid for this country."

imulgrew@png.canwest.com
© The Vancouver Sun 2008