On August 4, former Adelanto, California mayor Richard Kerr was found guilty of taking cannabis-related bribes while in office. According to coverage from the Los Angeles Times, Kerr was sentenced to federal prison for 14 months.

Initially, federal prosecutors sought to sentence Kerr to 46 months, but U.S. District Judge John W. Holcomb reconsidered the sentence because of Kerr’s age at 66 years old, in addition to his two decades of service in the Marines, as well as family-related responsibilities.

Kerr was elected as Adelanto’s mayor in 2014, a small desert city in southwestern San Bernardino County. Kerr claimed that 40% of Adelanto residents lived in poverty at the time (as of data from 2014-2018, that percentage has decreased to 26.5%) and he wanted to make the city the “Silicon Valley of medical marijuana.”

In 2017, Kerr was arrested by federal officials for taking a $10,000 cash bribe, and also trying to find someone to burn down his restaurant (called Fat Boyz Grill) so he could collect the insurance. The following year in 2018, Kerr’s house was raided by the FBI and he was seen in handcuffs outside of his home.

Later in 2021, he was charged with accepting $75,000 in bribes while in office, which influenced approval for cannabis-related ordinances and permits.

Finally in February 2023, Kerr pleaded guilty to fraud. The most recent case revealed that he considered bribery funds as donations to a charity fund.

Carlos L. Juarez, Kerr’s attorney, defended his client by claiming that he didn’t have a college education and was naïve. “He did his darnedest to serve the people but along the way got caught up in a web of political corruption,” Juarez stated. 

Kerr called his actions the result of “stupidity” and “doing dumb things.” However, he praised how the cannabis industry benefited the city, bringing “thousands of jobs and hundreds of new homes.”

However, U.S. Attorney Sean Peterson addressed the seriousness of Kerr’s actions. “It’s not that there was just one bribe. It’s serious conduct,” Peterson said, asking the judge for Kerr to serve four years in prison as an example of the consequences for others who choose a similar path.

Many witness came forth to discuss Kerr’s behavior. One local, Edwin Snell, said that Kerr promised him and his partner that they would be permitted to open a dispensary in the city, but Kerr sold the permit “to the highest bidder.” “He promised us a dispensary and Semper Fi’d it,” said Snell. “Every person that voted for him was betrayed. Every person that voted for him was hornswoggled.”

Another resident, Diana Esmeralda Holte, said in 2017 that she applied for a dispensary license, but her attempt was rejected because she wouldn’t pay a $7,000 bribe. “I think he deserves a million years, but 20 would be reasonable,” Holte said.

In his defense, Juarez said the court case and ruling is “a complete embarrassment to Kerr.” While once well-renowned and respected in the community, he has brought his family name to shame,” he described.

Kerr’s supporters wrote letters to the judge, explaining that he grew up in poverty, has issues with alcohol, suffers from emphysema (a lung disease that causes breathlessness), and supports five of his grandchildren. Kerr’s wife in particular spotlighted his more positive decisions as mayor, which included movies in the park, a public rodeo event, and food and toy drive donations during the holidays.

Former Adelanto mayor pro tem Jermaine Wright was convicted in 2022 for accepting a $10,000 bribe from an undercover federal official claiming to be a cannabis business owner. Wright was sentenced to five years in prison.

A recent podcast called “Dreamtown: Adelanto,” which premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival in New York City, covers the city’s history and corruption, as well as Kerr’s involvement in the cannabis industry. “…reporter David Weinberg delves into what happened when a newcomer on the local council helped the city legalize weed production, and documents the fallout that happened next,” wrote High Times author Molly Lipson.

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The former mayor of Fall River, Mass., convicted of taking bribes for cannabis licenses, had a wild day in court.

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One corrupt police officer in California who pleaded guilty to accepting bribes spun a web of lies and deception worthy of a Breaking Bad episode.

On September 7, Rudolph Petersen, 34, pleaded guilty to a federal bribery charge for accepting at least $14,000 in cash from a drug trafficker in exchange for escorting massive shipments of pot and other drugs, and searching a police database to supply the trafficker information on suspected snitches, according to  a press release from the U.S. Department of Justice.

Petersen, who served as a Montebello Police Department for about four years, solicited and received several large-sum cash bribes from an alleged gang member and drug trafficker, according to his plea agreement. Prosecutors say Petersen admitted to taking a total of $14,000 in cash bribes since 2018—mostly for transporting a U-Haul filled with weed and sniffing out people suspected of cooperating with other police.

Peterson was the guy on the inside, who had access to sensitive information about plea deals and the individuals involved.

Federal prosecutors say a drug trafficker, identified only as “co-schemer 2,” told Petersen he’d be placed “on his payroll” during a dinner in 2018, and gave him $500 through a middle man. 

“Three months later, Petersen—who was armed and wearing a security guard uniform that resembled an official police uniform—successfully escorted a white U-Haul truck containing what Petersen believed was illegally grown marijuana from Fontana to a location off California State Route 60 near Rowland Heights,” the report reads. “Petersen returned to the residence of Co-Schemer 2, who gave him a paper bag filled with $10,000 in cash. Petersen admitted to escorting at least one additional drug shipment for Co-Schemer 2.”

Petersen also admitted to escorting at least one other drug shipment, prosecutors said.

Additionally, Petersen fessed up to using a law enforcement database to collect information on an individual whom Co-Schemer 2 called a “snitch” who had allegedly helped law enforcement intercept a cocaine shipment. 

For a bribery charge of $500-1,000 per database search, Petersen delivered information about the “snitch” individual to Co-Schemer 2, plus information on others suspected of snitching as well.

Police say that in September 2020, Co-Schemer 2 paid Petersen $1,000 to determine if tracking devices found on vehicles that he and another co-schemer used were planted by a state or federal law enforcement investigation. Petersen admitted to accepting at least $14,000 in bribes.

United States District Judge Stanley Blumenfeld Jr. scheduled a sentencing hearing for January 11, 2022, when Petersen will face a statutory maximum sentence of 10 years in federal prison.

Homeland Security Investigations investigated this matter. Assistant United States Attorney Ian V. Yanniello of the International Narcotics, Money Laundering and Racketeering Section is prosecuting this case.

More Alleged Bribes in Central California’s Cannabis Industry

Unfortunately, Petersen’s case isn’t alone in the central California area when it comes to corruption from law enforcement and other people in power, such as public officials.

In February 2019, The FBI investigated whether public officials in Sacramento, California accepted bribes in return for favorable treatment for applicants for licenses to operate cannabis businesses in the city.

Sacramento officials investigated how cannabis business owner Garib Karapetyan and his associates have been able to amass eight licenses to operate dispensaries in the city—one-third of the number of retailers. 

One of Karapetyan’s partners, Ukrainian businessmen Andrey Kukushkin, was one of four men indicted by federal prosecutors for involvement in a scheme.

Even former President Donald Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani was implicated at some point in the case. Two other men indicted in the case, Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman, are also associates of Rudy Giuliani.

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A former California mayor was arrested last week after being indicted by a federal grand jury over allegations that he accepted thousands of dollars in bribes and kickbacks related to commercial marijuana activity.

Richard Kerr, who served as mayor of Adelanto, California from 2014 until 2018, was taken into custody on Friday by FBI agents. He was indicted on allegations that “he accepted more than $57,000 in bribes and kickbacks in exchange for approving ordinances authorizing various types of commercial marijuana activity within the city, and ensuring his co-schemers obtained city licenses or permits authorizing certain commercial marijuana activities,” according to a press release from the Department of Justice.

The indictment asserts that Kerr “voted on ordinances governing zoning regulations in the city and served on Adelanto’s Cannabis Dispensary Permit Committee, which determined the number of dispensary permits that would be issued and which applicants would receive them.”

It is the latest instance of Kerr finding himself under federal scrutiny, and the second time a top official from Adelanto has been accused of such a pot-related conspiracy. According to the Los Angeles Times, “federal agents served search warrants on Kerr’s home, City Hall and a local marijuana dispensary,” while “then-Mayor Pro Tem Jermaine Wright was charged with a similar scheme” in 2017.

In 2016, while Kerr was still serving as mayor of Adelanto, California voters passed a measure legalizing recreational marijuana use, paving the way for a regulated market.

The Department of Justice said that, in his capacity as mayor, Kerr “supported marijuana legalization, voted in favor of an ordinance authorizing marijuana cultivation in the city, voted in favor of an ordinance authorizing the operation of medical marijuana dispensaries, and voted to authorize the distribution, transportation and testing of medical marijuana, among other commercial marijuana activities. At the same time, Kerr secretly used his official position to enrich himself and his co-schemers by passing these same ordinances, according to the indictment.”

He is said to have “drafted zones for commercial marijuana activities to include locations used by his co-schemers, and he ensured they obtained the licenses and permits they sought—in exchange for bribes, kickbacks and gifts.”

Kerr’s alleged co-conspirators are described as “a lawyer who specialized in plaintiffs’ tort litigation—identified in the indictment as ‘Person A’ – and two individuals—labeled ‘Person C and ‘Person D’—who had business interests in the city, including those involving marijuana cultivation.”

“The bribes and kickbacks were disguised by Kerr and his co-schemers as gifts, donations to a charitable fund, donations to Kerr’s election campaign, or advance payments for the proceeds of planned litigation associated with a motorcycle accident,” the Department of Justice said. “In exchange for the bribes and kickbacks, Kerr provided favorable official action on behalf of the city to Person A, Person C, and other co-schemers with business interests in the city by authorizing various types of commercial marijuana activities, ensuring his supporters obtained the licenses or permits they sought, and interfering with enforcement activities by city officials.”

The DOJ provided two specific examples of Kerr’s alleged activity, one occurring in 2016 and the other in 2017. The first centered around a public discussion conducted by the Adelanto City Council in November of that year, where the officials addressed so-called “overlay zones” where medical cannabis dispensaries would be located.

“The initial proposal included two zones, neither of which included a former restaurant—purchased two months earlier by Person A and his spouse. During the discussion, Kerr requested a change in the boundaries of the second overlay zone, which expanded the zone to include Person A’s business. The plans for the business initially called for the building to be an attorney’s office, although they included items such as ‘elongated sales counters,’ a ‘dispensing room,’ ‘cashier,’ and ‘security room,’” according to the indictment, as described by the DOJ. 

On December 5 of that year, Kerr allegedly deposited a check that had the same date as when the meeting was held “from Person A’s real estate trust account into his bank account, and the check’s memorandum line read, ‘ADV XMAS FUND,’” the DOJ said.

It was also reported that in May 2017, the former Adelanto mayor also voted two times in support of a city ordinance that favored the marijuana dispensary overlap zone in which Person A’s business was to be located in. “In February, June and August of 2017, Kerr deposited three $10,000 checks from Person A’s law firm, with the memorandum lines of each check stating, ‘ADVANCE,’” according to the DOJ.

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