FRESNO, CA -- On the eve of their scheduled trial, a string of plea deals reduced the number of California Healthcare Collective defendants to just two.
It’s a dramatic reduction from the original number of defendants in the case, which stemmed from a September 2006 raid of the medical marijuana dispensary dubbed “the Central Valley's Largest Marijuana Distribution Center.”
Local and federal agencies served warrants at ten locations associated with the CHC, reporting the seizure of over a thousand marijuana plants, more than a hundred pounds of processed marijuana, ten firearms, and upwards of $200,000 in cash. In addition, nine individuals were netted in the subsequent federal indictment.
Within a year of the bust, however, plea deals reduced the number of defendants to six. They were frequently called the “Scarmazzo Six” in a gesture to the biggest celebrity in the group, rap artist Luke Scarmazzo. He and the CHC’s operator Ricardo Montes faced the most severe of the charges – running a continuing criminal enterprise – and were expected to be the only ones to stand trial.
During the past few months, the public watched and waited for a series of plea bargains to thin down the Scarmazzo Six. The other defendants, however, remained on the case right up until jury selection was scheduled to begin. On the last possible day before the trial, the guilty pleas were finally made. The last-minute timing added an element of suspense, but it was a different development that supplied the intrigue. As Scarmazzo reported, the majority of those who pled out yesterday made an agreement with the government to testify against him during trial.
Monica Valencia
Defendant Lucky Boissiere had a morning plea hearing, followed by brothers Jose and Antonio Malagon, who had been employed as the CHC’s security guards. Monica Valencia was the last of this group, making her change of plea in the late afternoon, but timing was not her only distinction. “I’m the only one who isn’t going to be testifying,” she divulged yesterday.
And it seems that she paid for the decision. As the hearing progressed, Assistant U.S. Attorney Kathleen Servatius dictated a series of edits to the court document that had been given to the judge. What had been written as a maximum sentence of five years became a maximum sentence of twenty years, and the fines for the offense climbed in similar fashion from $250,000 to a cool million. Valencia stuck to her decision nonetheless, pleading guilty to a single count of conspiracy to distribute marijuana. The charge stems from her role in running business-related errands for the CHC, including making bank deposits and ordering office equipment.
During a hearing late last year, her attorney stated that the government was trying to paint the 26 year-old Valencia as the “girl Friday” of the case. She is the youngest of the remaining defendants, but she has quickly proven to be a role model of integrity. For refusing a deal to testify for the government, she may take a hit at her August sentencing. And as the mother of two young sons, Valencia has a lot at stake in staying out of prison. Whatever the outcome, though, she says she knows she’s made the right choice.
Less certain are rulings about the evidence that will be permitted at trial. A short hearing was held yesterday with the intention of verifying the status of these rulings, many of which had been made by a prior judge in the case. The conclusion was that further proceedings would be needed to finalize decisions on a wide range of issues regarding testimony and other case evidence. A hearing for this purpose is expected to be held this afternoon, following a morning of jury selection and a noontime rally organized by supporters of the defendants.
As it stands now, however, little is set in stone regarding what will be presented to the jurors at trial. The only certainty so far, it seems, is this: at 9am today, a large pool of potential jurors will enter the grand ceremonial courtroom of Judge Oliver Wanger and slowly get whittled down to the group of twelve that will become the ultimate deciders in this trial.
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