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A total of 27 people were named in the criminal complaint as members of the marijuana operation, though actual charges have not yet been filed:
- Kimberly Adema
- Calvin Brown
- Merribeth DeVries
- Kevin Downey
- Curtis Fairchild
- Benjamin Fialek
- Erin Forestier
- Cody Fyre
- Brandon Goerbig
- Casie Hanis
- Nathan Hanis
- Douglis Harjer
- Debora Housley
- James Housley
- Robert Housley
- Vanessa Housley
- Braden Kasper
- Lori Larabell
- William May
- Dalton Miller
- James Moore
- Nicholas Perri
- David Searer
- Molly Taylor
- Shawn Andrew Taylor
- Leslie Wimmer
- Robert White
GRAND RAPIDS, MI – A multi-county drug-trafficking organization used Michigan’s medical marijuana law as a ruse to grow and sell marijuana across the state, an investigator said Thursday, Oct. 17.
Authorities targeted the Medical Marijuana Team, or MMT, and 27 people allegedly associated with the group are named in a criminal complaint unsealed Thursday, Oct. 17, in U.S. District Court in Grand Rapids.
Most of the suspects have been arrested, but have yet to make initial court appearances. Some could be arraigned as early as today.
Those accused in the drug conspiracy are from Kent, Ottawa, Muskegon, Grand Traverse and Oceana counties, police said.
The government said they sold high-grade marijuana for up to $3,200 a pound.
“The (organization) uses the framework of the (medical marijuana law) to suggest that they are following Michigan law in manufacturing and distributing marijuana, but my investigation, which includes several weeks of wiretaps on cellphones used by principal members of the organization, finds no support for the claim that they are trying to provide marijuana to sick people; it shows that they are out to make money,” Patrick Frederick, a Drug Enforcement Administration task force officer, wrote in the complaint.
The DEA and Kent Area Narcotics Team, or KANET, worked with many area agencies. More than 160 officers took part in the investigation, called “Operation High Mileage.”
Police used 28 search warrants, and had consent to search three other places, as part of the investigation. Police seized 500 plants and other assets.
