Indopedia All Things Marijuana
A California sheriff turned a brother and sister in to the DEA after they attempted to bribe him to ignore their illegal cannabis grows. In May, Chi Meng Yang and his sister Gaosheng Laitinen contacted Siskiyou County sheriff Jon Lopey with a business proposition. Yang allegedly asked Lopey to exempt eight grow sites from a ban on outdoor grows in Siskiyou County, in exchange for a $1 million donation to an organization of Lopey’s choice. Additionally, Yang allegedly promised to collect money to donate to the sheriff’s re-election campaign.
Lopey told Yang he would cooperate, but notified the DEA, the FBI, and the local District Attorney’s Office. “What I did was something that the vast majority of law enforcement administrators or peace officers would do,” he said. “The fact that somebody would think that any law enforcement administrator would compromise their professionalism and integrity is, you know, rather shocking.”
Lauren Horwood, spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Sacramento, said that Lopey met with Yang while wearing a wire, and agreed to accept $5,000 per property in protection money. At a third meeting, Yang introduced Laitinen to the sheriff….
