THETFORD TOWNSHIP (WJRT) – Thetford Township Police Chief Robert Kenny was arrested this week in connection with an investigation into surplus military equipment his department received.
Genesee County Sheriff Robert Pickell scheduled a press conference for Thursday morning to discuss “the arrest and charges” Kenny is facing.
Court records show Kenny is charged with embezzlement and obstruction of justice dating back to 2012.
The sheriff’s office has been investigating Thetford Township’s use of more than $1 million worth of surplus military equipment obtained through the Law Enforcement Supports Office over the past decade.
Kenny obtained the equipment, including a large forklift down to several used sleeping bags, on behalf of the township’s two-person police department.
Thetford Township Supervisor Gary Stevens has challenged Kenny for months to account for the whereabouts of the equipment. Much of it had been stored on private property inside and outside the township.
Earlier this year, a resident dropped off a large forklift and other equipment at the township hall after storing it on his land for years. The forklift then ended up in Stevens’ driveway a few weeks later, leading to a $1,300 towing bill to remove it.
Kenny also turned in an envelope this spring containing nearly $5,000, which he told officials was the proceeds from selling some of the equipment for scrap metal.
In April, the sheriff’s office raided the Thetford Township offices and seized several boxes of evidence.
The Thetford Township Board had planned to seek a public vote in November on whether residents wanted to continue the police department, but those plans were nixed when board members learned it was too late to get a question on the ballot.
Thetford Township will have to return its federal military surplus – if it can locate it – to the government, if there are no other police departments that want it.
That’s after Thetford Township police chief Robert Kenny was arrested for allegedly embezzling from the program.
Kenny acquired a large amount of federal military surplus since 2012 – nearly 4,000 items, with a retail value of $2.7 million.
He was arrested in late August for allegedly pocketing the proceeds from selling some of it.
Larry Goerge is the state coordinator for the surplus program. He says today, it’s unlikely Kenny would have been able to get so much.
“There’s been a lot of changes in the program since he was originally participating,” says Goerge. “We’ve covered a lot of those little loopholes that departments would have in the past.”
Kenny faces up to five years in prison for the embezzlement. He was also charged with obstruction of justice after he staged a fake “discovery” of missing money.
Yet another problem came to light after Kenny’s arrest. The police department wasn’t paying back a loan on a truck it purchased. The loan came from the township’s sewerage department.
Township supervisor Gary Stevens says he may have to reduce the hours of one of the police department’s two remaining employees, in order to fix the budgets for the police department and the sewerage department.
There are some other consequences from Kenny’s arrest. A day after the arrest, the township’s clerk, a Kenny supporter, resigned.
There may have to be a special election to replace her, because township trustees who supported Kenny wanted to hire one person and trustees who were instrumental in exposing Kenny’s alleged crimes wanted another.
Komorn Law has represented numerous clients through the legal chaos of starting up a business in the Michigan Medical Marihuana Industry.
If you or someone you know is facing charges as a result of Medical Marijuana, DUI, Drugs, Forfeiture, Criminal Enterprise, etc. Please contact our office and ensure you’re defended by an experienced lawyer in the evolving laws.
Lead attorney Michael Komorn is recognized as an expert on the Michigan Medical Marihuana Act. He is the President of the Michigan Medical Marijuana Association (MMMA), a nonprofit patient advocacy group which advocates for the rights of medical marijuana patients and their caregivers.
Contact us for a free no-obligation case evaluation 800-656-3557.
You must show a photo ID -or-sign an affidavit attesting that you do not have a photo ID in order to cast a ballot.
Voters with picture ID: Voters can satisfy the ID requirement by showing a Michigan driver’s license or a Michigan personal identification card.
Voters who do not possess either document may show any of the following forms of picture ID as long as it is current:
Driver’s license or personal ID card issued by another state.
Federal or state government-issued photo ID.
U.S. passport.
Military identification card with photo.
Student identification with photo from a high school or an accredited institution of higher education.
Tribal identification card with photo.
If you do not have a driver’s license or other form of photo ID, you can get a state ID card at your local Secretary of State branch for $10. People over 65, people who have had driving privileges terminated due to physical or mental disability, or are blind do not need to pay this fee.
Voters who do not have acceptable picture ID or forgot to bring acceptable picture ID to the polls can vote like any other voter by signing an affidavit.
Questions regarding the voter identification requirement can be directed to your local city or township clerk’s office.
The proposed ballot language for marijuana legalization in the state of Michigan appears finished.
It will appear asproposal 1 on the November general ballot.
In April, the Michigan Board of State Canvassers approved a petition to legalize the recreational use of marijuana in the state of Michigan.
After the state legislature failed to take up the petition it would be put on the ballot for citizens to vote.
A proposed initiated law to authorize possession, use and cultivation of marijuana products by individuals who are at least 21 years of age and older, and commercial sales of marijuana through state-licensed retailers
This proposal would:
Allow individuals age 21 and older to purchase, possess and use marijuana and marijuana-infused edibles, and grow up to 12 marijuana plants for personal consumption.
Impose a 10-ounce limit for marijuana kept at residences and require that amounts over 2.5 ounces be secured in locked containers.
Create a state licensing system for marijuana businesses including growers, processors, transporters, and retailers.
Allow municipalities to ban or restrict marijuana businesses.
Permit commercial sales of marijuana and marijuana-infused edibles through state-licensed retailers, subject to a new 10% tax earmarked for schools, roads, and municipalities where marijuana businesses are located.
Komorn Law has represented numerous clients through the legal chaos of starting up a business in the Michigan Medical Marihuana Industry.
If you or someone you know is facing charges as a result of Medical Marijuana, DUI, Drugs, Forfeiture, Criminal Enterprise, etc. Please contact our office and ensure you’re defended by an experienced lawyer in the evolving laws.
Lead attorney Michael Komorn is recognized as an expert on the Michigan Medical Marihuana Act. He is the President of the Michigan Medical Marijuana Association (MMMA), a nonprofit patient advocacy group which advocates for the rights of medical marijuana patients and their caregivers.
Contact us for a free no-obligation case evaluation 800-656-3557.
Sept 15, 2018 – The Michigan Cannabis Business Licensing Deadline
The Medical Marihuana Licensing Board’s September 15th deadline for unlicensed provisioning centers to shut down is approaching fast. Originally the deadline was June 15, 2018, but the state licensing office moved it due to an apparent backlog in processing applications
Only about 16 licenses out of a reported 637 applications have been approved.
There are approximately over 200 provisioning centers operating temporarily under state emergency rules. Most will have to shut down on the deadline date.
There are licenses that have been approved which include cannabis businesses in each of the five classes of operation in the state regulatory system. Even if there are more licenses approved at a meeting scheduled Sept. 10 meeting, it might only be a few.
“The implementation is insufficient,” says attorney Josh Colton of the Komorn Law firm. “Patients need safe access to their medicine. Extending the deadline from June to September was for this purpose. To all of a sudden shut this down is going to leave quite a few people scrambling.”
There are approximately 300,000 Michigan medical marijuana patients. The licensing bureau has calculated that two-thirds of the patients live within 30 miles or so of a county where one of the licensed provisioning centers is located.
“Even though I think [MMLB] are doing everything they possibly can, even if they are successful in getting 20 more facilities licensed, it is simply not enough to take care of the patient base,” says Colton.
“I have many cannabis business clients looking for answers” said attorneyMichael Komorn who has experience and is recognized as an expert in Michigan Medical Marijuana laws.
Medical marijuana home delivery under consideration in Michigan
8/29/18
Medical marijuana patients might be able to soon have their medicine delivered… right to their homes under a proposed set of rules. Michigan officials are reviewing this with consideration.
Provisioning centers could send out an employee to deliver products to patients directly in a transaction as simple as ordering a pizza or Chinese food.
Marijuana home deliveries are allowed in Oregon, California and Nevada — though their programs are not all universal. Colorado, Washington, Alaska and Washington D.C. don’t allow for home delivery.
Under the proposed rules in Michigan, medical patients could order online and pay online for home deliveries.
Provisioning centers would be allowed to staff one person to make home deliveries, who could only deliver to three patients at a time, according to the proposed rules. The provisioning center would have to be able to track the delivery’s GPS location at all times during the delivery, and logs would have to be kept. Deliveries would only be allowed to the home address of the patient.
Medical patients living in a city or township that has banned medical marijuana businesses from operating could receive deliveries from provisioning centers, said David Harns, spokesman for the state’s Bureau of Medical Marijuana Regulation.
A hearing on the permanent rules is set for Sept. 17. The emergency rules and permanent rules are largely the same, save for the ability of provisioning centers to make deliveries, Copenhaver said.
In late May, Detroit police, along with federal law enforcement agencies, raided what the media described as a “massive marijuana grow operation.”
It turned out to be Viola Brands a temporary licensed medical marijuana and cannabis company in Detroit that was founded by former NBA player Al Harrington.
It was raided even though they should have known it was legal.
Six people were arrested and charged with felonies. The crop — more than 1,000 plants valued at several million of dollars, 100 pounds of marijuana along with lights, fans and testing equipment, were seized.
U.S. Border Patrol was credited with an assist. A Border Patrol agent who works in “gang intel” and was “embedded” with the Detroit Police Department conducted a “thorough investigation,” and obtained a search warrant, Detroit police Sgt. Gerry Johnson told a local television station.
“This is one of the most sophisticated operations I’ve seen in a long time,” Johnson said.
Viola Brands had a state permit as well as local building permits.
Case Dismissed
On July 31, Komorn Law as well as other defense attorneys got Judge Kenneth King of 36th District Court to dismissed the case “in the interest of fairness.”
According to a defense attorney involved in the case
The Detroit Police apparently forgot — or did not bother — to secure the door to the facility after the raid, allowing burglars to enter and make off with expensive equipment the police did not seize
How did Detroit Police manage to “investigate” and “raid” a “marijuana operation” without figuring out that it was licensed by the city?
Detroit’s building inspection department is owed at least some of the blame. When police called to see if the operation was legitimate — the “investigation” referred to above — Detroit building inspectors gave the wrong answer and said that there shouldn’t have been a grow there.
Detroit building inspectors are digging in their heels, insisting that the grow at Viola Brands was illegal.
In court, prosecutors argued that Viola Brands was licensed only to “sell” at the facility, and not to grow.
“That’s absurd,” said medical marijuana defense attorney Michael Komorn in an interview with the Detroit News. “It’s a semantic issue because I would say everyone would understand that if they’ve been given permission to sell it, of course a medical marijuana caregivers center includes growing and cultivating marijuana.”
Komorn’s question — as well as the many other questions of who might be liable to damages done to Viola Brands during the raid now appears headed to a courtroom.
Komorn Law has represented numerous clients through the legal chaos of starting up a business in the Michigan Medical Marihuana Industry.
If you or someone you know is facing charges as a result of Medical Marijuana, DUI, Drugs, Forfeiture, Criminal Enterprise, etc. Please contact our office and ensure you’re defended by an experienced lawyer in the evolving laws.
Lead attorney Michael Komorn is recognized as an expert on the Michigan Medical Marihuana Act. He is the President of the Michigan Medical Marijuana Association (MMMA), a nonprofit patient advocacy group which advocates for the rights of medical marijuana patients and their caregivers.
Contact us for a free no-obligation case evaluation 800-656-3557.
