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IS COMMERCE NEXT? FBI Investigating whether Sacramento pot businesses paid bribes to public officials

BY BRIAN HEWS

The Sacramento Bee is reporting that the FBI has been investigating whether Sacramento-area marijuana businesses have made payoffs to public officials in the region in exchange for favorable treatment and license approvals.

In their report, the Bee stated, “Three sources with direct knowledge of FBI questioning of area marijuana business figures say the investigation began in the past few months and predates the disclosure that one of Sacramento’s major marijuana dispensary owners had ties to a Ukrainian man indicted last week along with two associates of Rudy Giuliani, President Trump’s personal attorney.”

The FBI’s Sacramento field office declined to comment Monday.

In the past month HMG-LCCN has exclusively reported that Commerce contracted with two questionable cannabis license negotiators, Renea Ferrel, who was paid $190,000, and Ebony Andersen who was paid $210,000.

Neither had experience in the cannabis industry; Ferrel was a former grant writer working for the city of Compton while Andersen currently sells jewelery for multi-level marketing firms.

https://www.loscerritosnews.net/2019/09/27/former-compton-grant-writer-paid-190000-by-city-of-commerce-to-negotiate-cannabis-licenses/
https://www.loscerritosnews.net/2019/10/11/city-of-commerce-paid-210000-to-a-multi-level-marketing-salesperson-to-negotiate-cannabis-applications/

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