‘Prince of Pot’ Marc Emery extradited to Seattle; scheduled to plead guilty

‘Prince of Pot’ Emery to plead guilty

SEATTLE — After a yearslong battle to avoid extradition, Canada’s so-called Prince of Pot was brought Thursday to Seattle, where he is expected to plead guilty to a charge that he sold millions of marijuana seeds to U.S. customers.

Canada’s justice minister signed off on Marc Emery’s extradition to the United States on May 10. Emery was scheduled to make an initial appearance Thursday afternoon before pleading guilty on Monday.

Emery, 51, of Vancouver, British Columbia, claimed to have made $3 million a year before his arrest in 2005, when a grand jury in Seattle indicted him on marijuana conspiracy charges.

His attorney, Richard Troberman, said Emery will plead guilty to one count of conspiracy to manufacture marijuana in exchange for an agreed sentence of five years in prison.

To drug officials, Emery was a pariah whose pot seeds were used in illegal marijuana grows across the United States.

The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration said his seeds have been traced to grow operations in Indiana, Florida, California, Tennessee, Montana, Virginia, Michigan, New Jersey and North Dakota.

But his supporters view him as a crusader for the use and sale of the drug for both its recreational and medicinal value. They accused the U.S. of launching a politically motivated prosecution and said they were stunned when Canadian Justice Minister Rob Nicholson agreed to extradite Emery.

Emery’s wife, Jodie Emery, accused Nicholson of wanting to “silence the most vocal opponent of the drug war.”

She said she would hold a rally with marijuana supporters in front of her husband’s Cannabis Culture store in downtown Vancouver.

She called on other marijuana activists to shut down Hastings Street, a busy commuter link in the western Canadian city.