Michelle Rainey and Gregory Keith Williams plead guilty.

Seed company staffers plead guilty in pot case; lawyers suggest probation
4/25/09|The Globe and Mail| by Rod Mickleburgh

Two close associates of Canada's self-styled "prince of pot," Marc Emery, pleaded guilty in a Seattle court yesterday to selling marijuana seeds over the Internet, the same charge that has Mr. Emery facing the possibility of life imprisonment in the United States.

The surprise pleas were entered by Michelle Rainey, 38, and Gregory Keith Williams, 54, both of Vancouver, who were arrested, along with Mr. Emery, by the RCMP on extradition warrants in 2005.

The case has caused an uproar among pro-marijuana and some legal activists who accuse Canadian authorities of co-operating with the States' harsh war on drugs to put Mr. Emery behind bars when no similar charges have been laid against him in Canada.

Defence and prosecution lawyers made a joint submission to the court, recommending Ms. Rainey and Mr. Williams each receive a sentence of two years' probation. They will return for sentencing July 17.

Ms. Rainey told the court in a statement that she made up to $1,000 a week working for Mr. Emery's seed-selling business, with 75 per of its customers located south of the border.

Mr. Williams said he was being paid $300 a day by Mr. Emery. He added that Mr. Emery's claim of making more than $3-million annually from the marketing of marijuana seeds from his Vancouver headquarters was accurate.

An earlier attempt by Mr. Emery to broker his own plea agreement and serve about five years in a Canadian jail, if charges were dropped against his two employees, foundered when the federal government refused to go along.

Jody Emery, editor of Cannabis Culture Magazine and wife of Mr. Emery, said her husband is "very happy that Greg and Michelle will not be punished with a 10-20 year jail sentence.

"The United States wants Marc," she said, "and he has never wanted it on his conscience that Greg and Michelle were taken in, too. So he feels relieved."

The extradition trial of the so-called cannabis crusader begins in B.C. Supreme Court on June 1. "Now he gets to defend himself, and that's the way he wants it," Ms. Emery said.

"If he's punished, it should be here in Canada. That's where all his activities have been carried out. He has never operated in the United States."

The three were arrested after undercover agents from the Drug Enforcement Administration in the U.S. alleged in affidavits that they had been sold marijuana seeds directly at Mr. Emery's cannabis operation on Vancouver's West Hastings Street. Since the arrests, the business has closed.