NJWeedman gets probation, fine, seeks appeal

Libertarian News Examiner readers familiar with the NJWeedman trials for marijuana possession will be interested to know that Ed "NJWeedman" Forchion was sentenced and fined last week in a Mount Holly, New Jersey courtroom.

A PhillyBurbs article reported that Forchion was given two years probation and fined $2,500.

After being arrested in April 2010 for possession with intent to distribute marijuana, convicted on the possession charge with a hung jury on the distribution charge in May 2012, and acquitted via jury nullification when retried on the distribution charge in October 2012, Forchion appeared for sentencing on the possession conviction on January 16, 2013.

NJWeedman SentencedNJWeedman Sentenced

But the Weedman story still isn't over.

Forchion, who had anticipated the probation and fine, already had an appeal in the works and hopes, as PhillyBurbs reported, to not only overturn his conviction, but also change the law.

Meanwhile, Forchion has been trying to rebrand himself as a fulltime marijuana activist.

His plan was detailed in his Jury Nullification Tour campaign page on the crowdfunding website, Indiegogo.

The idea was to wire his "Weedmobil" for video and sound and hit the road, "visiting towns and cities across the country lending support and jury nullification enlightenment to targeted Juries and communities nationally." Ideally, he would roll into town a few weeks before a marijuana defendant's trial to stir up publicity in the local media.

But he doesn't stop there. Forchion hoped to pitch this idea to major TV networks as a reality show with defendants nationwide enlisting his help in promoting the jury nullification defense by distributing "massive amounts of Fully Informed Jury Association nullification fliers.

Unfortunately, his fundraising efforts brought very little in the way of monetary support for this idea.

Forchion has also attempted to sell his personal story to Hollywood in the past.

On October 1, 2012 The Weedman opened his new medical marijuana dispensary, the "United States Collective," in Los Angeles. But following his October trial acquittal it was ordered closed by the DOJ, even though it was legal under California law.

His earlier dispensary, Liberty Bell Temple II, was raided and shut down in December 2011 by the DEA even though it too was legal under California law.

Still, one thing seems certain; Ed Forchion will be in the news again soon, if not with another project then almost certainly for his sentencing appeal.

(See Suggested by the author for NJWeedman background articles.)

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