Former NBA star busted with drugs & briefcase containing nearly $92K in cash
More and more states are making recreational marijuana legal, creating a thriving market for self-medicating Americans who just want to bliss out with a spliff and birthing a new generation of legitimate entrepreneurs.
Maryland is not one of those states.
Glen “Big Baby” Davis — a former NBA star who won a title with the Boston Celtics and would go on to play for the Magic and Clippers as well — got busted last month in Aberdeen, Maryland, with 126 grams of marijuana in his possession and a briefcase containing $92,164 in cash.
Making matters worse, the briefcase allegedly contained a ledger with a list of names.
“They recovered 126 grams of marijuana,” Aberdeen Police Lieutenant William Reiber told WMAR. “In addition to that, there was a briefcase that contained 92,164 dollars of U.S. currency along with a ledger that contained language which is consistent with someone involved in the sale and distribution of narcotics.”
“The ledger was of names of people of who owed money along with baggies for individual packaging of a quarter pound of marijuana,” WMAR reported.
Under Maryland’s marijuana laws, Davis is in a world of trouble
While weed is legal for medicinal use when obtained from a licensed dispensary with a doctor’s prescription, Davis does not appear to be a medical marijuana patient.
The pot seized by police allegedly came from a grower in Los Angeles with whom Davis does business. In California, of course, marijuana is legal for recreational use.
But in Maryland, penalties for simple possession of more than 10 grams but less than 50 pounds of weed include a misdemeanor conviction, 1 year in jail and a $1,000 fine.
Where things get more interesting is in the “with intent to distribute” clause of the law.
Possession of less than 50 pounds of weed with intent to distribute is a felony in Maryland, punishable by up to 5 years in prison and a $15,000 fine.
And depending on how one interprets the law, Davis could be busted for “use of marijuana in public,” since the owner of the Hampton Inn in Aberdeen claims to have smelled marijuana and called the police. Thus, he might be liable for an additional $500 civil fine.
Davis was indicted last week on seven counts of drug possession and distribution, placing a multiplier on everything mentioned above. He could, if the courts convicted him on all counts and chose to make an example of him for trying to import weed from other states, face over a decade in prison.
Davis told police he was visiting family in Maryland, but it remains to be seen how his story will hold up in court.
The former star made over $34 million in his basketball career, so it seems curious that he allegedly risked his freedom over less than 1 percent of that.
Davis is due in court early next month.
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