Marc Emery pleads guilty in U.S. court

Vancouver’s Marc Emery, who pleaded guilty today in U.S. District Court in Seattle to conspiracy to manufacture marijuana, will be sentenced in August, says the U.S. Department of Justice.

Emery, 51, could face five years in prison. He will remain at the detention centre at SeaTac in Washtington until the sentencing.

“Sometimes you reap what you sow," said U.S. attorney Jenny A. Durkan. "Today, Mark Emery acknowledged he broke the law. Seeds from Marc Emery’s business were found at grow sites across the U.S. Mr. Emery made millions of dollars promoting and facilitating marijuana grows in the United States with no regard for the age or criminal activities of his customers. The rule of law requires accountability. A five-year prison term will hold Emery accountable for his choice to ignore the law.”

Emery was indicted in 2005, and was extradited last week from Vancouver. In the plea agreement, Emery admits that he and his co-conspirators Michelle Rainey and Gregory Keith Williams operated a marijuana seed-distribution business known as Marc Emery Direct.

Emery’s business sold marijuana seeds to customers throughout the U.S., the department said, and 75 per cent of the sales were to people in the U.S. Emery also sold grow equipment and provided advice on cultivating marijuana to customers in the U.S. On multiple occasions in 2004 and 2005, Emery sold marijuana seeds to an undercover Drug Enforcement Administration agent at the shop and elsewhere.

On his website, Emery claims to have made $3 million a year selling seeds, and to have sold more than 4,000,000 seeds over the years.

Under the terms of the plea agreement, Judge Ricardo S. Martinez can impose any fines, forfeitures, restitution or conditions of supervised release he believes are appropriate. Emery has waived his right to appeal if the judge imposes the five-year prison term specified in the plea agreement.

Last year, Rainey, 39, and Williams, 54, both employees of Emery Seeds, were sentenced in U.S. District Court in Seattle to two years of probation for conspiracy to manufacture marijuana.