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View Full Version : NJ man convicted, 17 marijuana plants = Drug Manufacturing! Facing 10-20 yrs!




Valli6
11-03-2015, 12:09 PM
And Christie pretends we're easing up on drug laws. :rolleyes:

October 29, 2015:

N.J. man who grew pot plants slams judge for seeking verdict from deadlocked jurors
MaryAnn Spoto

Livid over a Superior Court judge's decisions to keep jurors deliberating in his trial, a Mays Landing man unloaded an expletive-peppered tirade accusing the judge of trying to influence jurors to convict him of serious drug charges for growing marijuana plants.

The outburst by Jon Peditto came after the first full day of jury deliberations in his trial in Ocean County Superior Court, where he is trying to convince jurors he shouldn't go to prison for growing 17 cannabis plants in the Pine Barrens...

...His anger growing throughout the day, Peditto reached his boiling point when Blaney granted jurors' requests to hear and see potentially damaging testimony. By then, jurors had twice said they couldn't reach a verdict on all four charges against Peditto but Blaney sent them back to continue deliberations.

"Are you going to keep them here and keep them here until you get what you want?" Peditto shouted at the judge while the jury of one man and 11 women was still in the courtroom...

He faces up to 20 years in prison if convicted of the most serious offense -- the manufacturing facility charge.

During his trial, Peditto argued that he shouldn't be convicted because he grew the 7-foot tall plants primarily for his own use while occasionally selling the product to some friends and relatives. He argued for jury nullification, insisting New Jersey's laws classifying cannabis as a drug more dangerous than PCP, cocaine and crystal meth are arcane. He said he used marijuana like others use alcohol.

But on the videotape of his interview with police the day he was arrested, Peditto often spoke of his need to sell the pot to supplement his income as a wedding photographer. He said he expected to get $5,000 from his excess crop.

"How else am I going to make money?" he asks the detectives at one point in the video. And at another point he says to them, "I wish I had your jobs. Then I wouldn't have to be doing this (stuff)."* And he told them "It is pathetic that I got to sell pot to pay my bills."

When Blaney, like all judges, referred to himself as "the court," Peditto unleashed another verbal attack.

"I hope you're not 'the court,' your honor. I really do," he said. "When I think of 'court,' I don't think of you."

And later, again out of earshot of the jurors, he said, "This isn't a court. This is not the slightest bit of a resemblance of a court. You're not a judge."

"Anything else?" Peditto then added, mocking a phrase Blaney had used moments earlier.

Without raising his voice, Blaney explained why he instructed the jurors to continue deliberating and why he allowed them to see the video tape of Peditto's arrest interview again.

"The attempts you're trying to make in front of the jury are really reprehensible," Blaney said.

Peditto fired his attorney the day his trial started, but she has been present throughout the proceedings as backup counsel.

His case has attracted the attention of jury nullification activists who tell jurors they have the right to acquit if they believe a law is unjust.

http://www.nj.com/ocean/index.ssf/2015/10/drug_suspect_unleashes_tirade_on_trial_judge.html

October 30, 2015:


N.J. man who grew 17 pot plants convicted of drug manufacturing
By Alex Napoliello

A man who admitted to growing 17 cannabis plants in the Pine Barrens in 2012 was convicted Thursday of maintaining a drug manufacturing facility, the most serious charge against him.

After nearly six hours of deliberations, the jury returned a guilty verdict on two of the four counts filed against Jon Peditto, 54, of Mays Landing.

Along with the maintaining a drug facility charge, Peditto was found guilty of possession of more than 50 grams of marijuana. The jury, however, returned a not guilty verdict on two counts of possession of marijuana with the intent to distribute.

Prosecutors said Peditto faces a minimum of 10 years in state prison.

The verdict angered activists and family members who attended the court hearing in support of Peditto. Peditto's brother wiped back tears as the verdict was read and left the courtroom in a hurry, shouting at a news cameraman to not include him in his report. Marijuana activist Ed Forchion, known as NJ Weedman, aimed his frustration at the 11 women, one-man jury.

"I think the jurors are cowards, I will say that," Forchion said outside the courtroom after the verdict was read. "They rubber-stamped the prosecution. No one should go to jail for marijuana."

Peditto, dressed in all black, remained calm throughout the hearing, a far cry from the expletive-laced tirade he went on in Wednesday's proceeding. Even after sheriff's officers placed him in handcuffs, Peditto remained silent and had a stoic expression on his face.

Melissa Barbier, an attorney who advised Peditto throughout the trial, declined to comment after the verdict. Barbier said in the courtroom that Peditto would "most likely file an appeal in this case."

On Aug. 7, 2012, Peditto was arrested after detectives found his marijuana plant-growing operation in the Pine Barrens in Little Egg Harbor. He was charged with maintaining a drug manufacturing facility, two counts of drug distribution and one count of drug possession.

Peditto admitted to growing the plants, but argued that he shouldn't be convicted because he grew the plants primarily for his own use, occasionally selling some of the marijuana from the plants to friends and relatives.

But videotape of his interview with police the day he was arrested, played in court on Wednesday, showed Peditto talking of his need to sell the product as a way to boost his income. The $5,000 he made from selling the pot, he told police, helped supplement his income as a wedding photographer.

"How else am I going to make money?" Peditto was heard asking detectives at one point in the video.

Prosecutors say that Peditto should be convicted because he admitted to growing the 7-foot-tall plants and that by selling the marijuana from the plants to family and friends, makes him the operator of a drug facility and a distributor.

Peditto, who is representing himself, argued for jury nullification in his closing arguments on Tuesday, though he did not use those specific words out of concern Superior Court Judge James Blaney or the prosecution would object.

And during jury deliberations on Thursday, Forchion was certain it would occur. Jury nullification occurs when a jury returns a verdict of not guilty because they believe the law is immoral or wrongly applied to the defendant.

Along with Forchion, an activist who advocates for the legalization of marijuana, Peditto's case has caught the attention of jury nullification activist James Babb.

On Wednesday, Peditto had accused Blaney of keeping the jury in deliberations until they reached a conclusion the judge favored. Jurors had twice said they couldn't reach a verdict on all four charges against Peditto but Blaney sent them back to continue deliberations.

The jury came out of deliberations twice on Thursday, to review a portion of the case in which evidence was presented and to ask the judge a question about one of the distribution counts. Jurors wanted to know, to convict Peditto of distribution, was it necessary to prove he intended to sell 10 or more plants.

"With respect to this charge, and this count, you must find the state has the burden of proof, beyond a reasonable doubt, that the defendant intended to distribute 10 or more plants," Blaney explained to the jury.

Peditto was ultimately found not guilty of both counts of drug distribution.

He was remanded to the Ocean County jail until his sentencing. Blaney said he agreed with the prosecution that Peditto at times was "disrespectful" to the court and its procedure.

"I would encourage you to have representation in the future by an attorney and not by yourself," Blaney told Peditto.

Forchion, who sparked a joint outside the courthouse on Monday in protest, said on Thursday, "If this were truly a righteous country, we would be having riots outside the courtroom."

http://www.nj.com/ocean/index.ssf/2015/10/man_who_grew_pot_plants_in_pine_barrens_found_guil .html

Notice NJ's "Weedman" was there. ^

tod evans
11-03-2015, 12:32 PM
Every day in every state........:mad:

kcchiefs6465
11-03-2015, 12:59 PM
Even if they weren't as large as they were they charge you based on prospective yield. Which in their eyes is a pound per plant. In most every circumstance, indoor plants aren't going to yield close to that much. But to reiterate, if you have germinating seedlings, they will charge you a pound per plant.

tod evans
11-03-2015, 01:04 PM
Even if they weren't as large as they were they charge you based on prospective yield. Which in their eyes is a pound per plant. In most every circumstance, indoor plants aren't going to yield close to that much. But to reiterate, if you have germinating seedlings, they will charge you a pound per plant.

Unless things have changed it's a kilo for every germinated plant in federal court........



[Edit]

Here's a federal kilo;

http://www.greenmanspage.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/Marijuana-Germination-and-Seedlings-2.jpg

kcchiefs6465
11-03-2015, 01:12 PM
And of the half or so that will be worthless males, pulled and thrown away?

It's only decades of your life they are talking about.

And to THX, cops cannot be trifled with such moral trivialities such as this.

Slave Mentality
11-03-2015, 02:59 PM
All for a plant. They are fighting for our freedoms.