Fascinating tale of a singular federal prosecution (and notable sentencing) of DC marijuana distributors

A helpful reader made sure I did not miss this new and lengthy story from the Washington Post concerning a federal prosecution and sentencing of modern marijuana offenders.  The full headline highlights some of the notable particulars: "D.C. legalized weed. A marijuana delivery service was indicted anyway.  A judge refused to hand out prison sentences and urged officials to resolve the tension between local legalization and federal prohibition."  I recommend the story, which defies easy summary in full to anyone interested in marijuana reform and prosecutorial (and judicial) decisions issues.  Here are just some snippets:

Connor Pennington always knew he would start his own business, though he wasn’t sure what type....  When nearly 65 percent of D.C. voters approved Initiative 71 in 2014, legalizing the recreational use of marijuana, the 29-year-old found “what I truly believe is my calling,” he said: distributing pot.  He named the company Joint Delivery.

Although he knew marijuana sales were illegal under federal law, Pennington created a website where customers could place orders, and he had delivery workers fan out daily in bikes or cars.  Hoping to create a professional atmosphere, he hired middle managers and a full-time accountant.  The company generated at least $4 million in sales from 2017 to 2022, according to court records....

In July 2022, Pennington, two younger brothers he had hired and five Joint Delivery managers were indicted — the first and so far only D.C. marijuana dispensary to face federal prosecution since Initiative 71 passed. In a related case, Pennington’s accountant was charged with money laundering....

“This is a strange kind of case, because the substance that’s involved is legal in many, many states now. It’s not in the federal system,” U.S. District Judge Leonie M. Brinkema said at a hearing May 2. “This disparity has got to get worked out soon because it creates a crazy situation in the law enforcement area.”

The DEA twice raided Joint Delivery’s offices in D.C. last year, finding cash, marijuana and cannabis products, according to the indictment.  All nine defendants pleaded guilty to money laundering or conspiring to distribute a dangerous substance and were ordered to forfeit the money they earned.

But they never set foot in a D.C. courthouse, and none went to prison.  The top federal prosecutor in the District, U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves, declined to prosecute Joint Delivery and generally does not seek charges against any of the dozens of marijuana “gifting” shops and delivery services in the city, despite occasional police raids, according to U.S. officials and defense attorneys involved in the Joint Delivery case.

Instead, all the charges against Pennington and his employees were filed by the U.S. attorney’s office for the Eastern District of Virginia (EDVA), led by Jessica D. Aber.  Prosecutors said they had jurisdiction mainly because much of the money laundering occurred in Northern Virginia.  But legal experts and the judge who handled most of the case said they were puzzled by the move, because the drug distribution that prosecutors described happened in D.C.

“I don’t think this case truly belonged here,” Brinkema said at a hearing in Alexandria federal court on Jan. 6, after chiding a prosecutor in Aber’s office for seeking a “completely inappropriate” sentence of four years and nine months in prison for one of Pennington’s shift managers, Robert Spear, who was 27 years old at the time.

The judge sentenced all of those indicted to terms of supervised release of two or three years. “It was always amazing to me that the District of Columbia, where this business essentially was, was not interested in the prosecution of this case,” Brinkema said at one of the final sentencings.