If pot becomes legal in Sierra Madre this guy could emerge as downtown's most successful merchant

Future Chamber of Commerce President?

Mod: The thin line between crime and what we might want to consider legal and normal commercial activity can be a very tenuous one at times. Such could be the case with this unfortunate fellow as detailed in the latest on-line edition of the Pasadena Independent.

Sierra Madre Cops Nab Pot Dealer With 600 Plants (Pasadena Independentlink): Dealer in possession of estimated street value of $100,000 of marijuana arrested. Recently, the Sierra Madre Police Department received an anonymous tip that a subject was loading “multiple boxes of marijuana into a truck and trailer from a home located in Sierra Madre.”

Officers responded to the area and located the described vehicle. Sierra Madre Police officers conducted a traffic stop on the vehicle for a vehicle code violation and contacted the driver, Jason Walker, who was the sole occupant of the vehicle.

Walker was driving on a suspended driver’s license and had an outstanding warrant for his arrest. A search incident to Walker’s arrest revealed he was in possession of over 600 marijuana plants in various stages of growth, approximately 125 pounds of mature marijuana bud and a large amount of U.S. currency. The recovered marijuana plants and bud have a street value of over $100,000.

Walker declined to provide a statement of how he came into possession of the items and was booked at the Pasadena Police Department Jail.

Mod: Photos such as the following are being used to help highlight this arrest, and some can be found on the SMPD's vibrant and new Facebook page (link).








Mod: By coincidence I am sure, this week the Planning Commission will be considering the possibility of legal marijuana becoming commercially available (or not) in Sierra Madre's downtown business zone. In California marijuana recently became legal via a statewide vote of the people, though local jurisdictions can still have their say in this matter. Here is a brief description from the Agenda Report for this item (link). Please note that the actual Staff Report is not available on-line at this time. Something that is both annoying and possibly south of what is legally required under state law in regards to the noticing of such meetings.

Mod: Remember, and as one informed reader noted yesterday, "the person arrested is a potential downtown entrepreneur who could be paying taxes to this city rather than sitting in the pokey." As always we will be keeping an eye on this thin line for you. 

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