A web of lies and conspiracy is unfolding involving at least four law enforcement officers and multiple city officials in the area of Franklin County, Maine. 

While two former Franklin County deputies await charges for allegedly keeping an illegal cannabis operation in Farmington, Maine in the loop of law enforcement surveillance, two other officers were cleared of federal charges after the court determined that they didn’t know why they were running plates and using government databases.

The Sun Journal reports that former Wilton police officer Kevin Lemay of Farmington and former Oxford County Sheriff deputy James McLamb of Auburn were each charged by the federal government on Nov. 9, 2021, with tampering with documents. The charges alleged that they used government databases to confirm that a cannabis operation was under surveillance, and then destroyed electronic evidence.

Federal prosecutors believe that Lucas Sirois—the ringleader—allegedly led a $13 million illegal cannabis operation and cops working for him on the inside, monitoring any potential investigations. Maine State Police officers and other law enforcement raided locations in Farmington and other places in Franklin County on July 21, 2020. After over a year of investigations, 11 people were indicted by a federal grand jury on Nov. 9, 2021, as well three businesses connected to Sirois.

But he allegedly had several cops working for him on the inside.

The two former cops were accused of running license plates per the request of Franklin County deputies Bradley Scovil and Derrick Doucette. They allegedly ran the plates to confirm that those deputies were under surveillance by law enforcement. The two former cops allegedly received cars and money in exchange for keeping the operation team in the loop. 

Sirois also allegedly had city officials working for him on the inside: Former Rangeley Selectman David Burgess also admitted he accepted tens of thousands of dollars in cold, hard cash from Sirois to advocate for town decisions that benefited him and his cannabis operation. Burgess pleaded guilty in June to charges of conspiracy to distribute controlled substances, conspiracy to commit honest services fraud (bribery), and conspiracy to defraud the United States and impede and impair the Internal Revenue Service (tax fraud). His outcome was a bit less forgiving: Burgess also waived his right to appeal so long as his sentence is less than nine years.

Doucette and Scovil pleaded guilty in a federal court to conspiracy to defraud and deprive residents of Franklin County of their “right to the defendants’ honest and faithful services through bribery,” and are currently awaiting sentencing.

They won’t be doing any longer than five years in the slammer, though. Thanks to a plea deal, Doucette and Scovil waived their right to appeal the sentences, as long as their sentences are no longer than four years and nine months.

Former officer Kevin Lemay of Farmington and former deputy James McLamb of Auburn, who also once served as town manager in Dixfield, each requested dismissal of the charges against them, saying they didn’t know the reasons for using government resources.

The dismissals were granted by federal Judge Lance Walker because the government and the indictment failed to demonstrate that Lemay and McLamb were aware of a future grand jury investigation into the cannabis operation, or that their actions would affect those proceedings. That aspect is required for a conviction of tampering charge.

“Mr. Lemay is pleased that the court has granted his motion and dismissed the charges against him. He has always maintained that these charges were baseless,” his attorney, Stacey Neumann, of the law firm of Murray, Plumb & Murray in Portland, Maine told The Sun Journal in an email.

“From the outset, it has been our position that Mr. McLamb should not have been charged,” McLamb’s attorney Michael Turndorf of Turndorf Law in Portland wrote in an email. “This process has severely impacted Mr. McLamb’s life. I hope and trust that he can move on from this and lead a happy and productive life,”

Scovil and Doucette were allegedly involved in the conspiracy from June 2019 to July 21, keeping the illegal cannabis operation  Farmington informed.

Other co-defendants in the conspiracy case include Lucas Sirois,  his estranged wife Alisa Sirois, his father Robert Sirois, former Rangeley Selectman David Burgess, Brandon Dagnese, Kenneth Allen, and Ryan Nezol.

Former Franklin County Assistant District Attorney Kayla Alves also pleaded guilty to federal charges of tampering with documents for her role in the conspiracy. Her license to practice law was suspended for nine months, but has since been reinstated. Alves was sentenced to two years of probation and fined $2,000 in exchange for pleading guilty.

Allen and the Sirois family members pleaded not guilty and their cases are pending.

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Birds Aren’t Real is a conspiracy movement that’s exactly what it sounds like: the concept that birds aren’t real, and they’ve been replaced by robotic replicas, installed by the “deep state.” But founder Peter McIndoe, 24, broke character on CBS 60 Minutes on May 1 to explain that his conspiracy theory is simply a parody and that his movement is more of a social experiment—and it’s working like a charm.

Bird Aren’t Real slogans and imagery appear on billboards, bumper stickers, and even places such as an NCAA men’s basketball national championship game. The website sells “Truther Gear” like crazy. Birds Aren’t Real now boasts over 1 million devoted followers and over 400,000 followers on Instagram.

“Once a preventative cause, our initial goal was to stop the genocide of real birds,” the organization states on its website. “Unfortunately this was unsuccessful, and the government has since replaced every living bird with robotic replicas. Now our movement’s prerogative is to make everyone aware of this fact.”

The organization provides a faux history of supposedly launching in 1973 after learning of a secret C.I.A. operation to wipe out birds dating back to the 1950s.

Despite the level of absurdity, the movement attracted actual followers who are convinced birds aren’t real. On April 14, profiled in The Guardian, McIndoe said the “absurdity is getting more intense.” McIndoe realized his own movement had become larger than he could control. “I remember seeing videos of people chanting: ‘Birds aren’t real,’ at high-school football games; and seeing graffiti of ‘birds aren’t real.’ At first, I thought: ‘This is crazy,’ but then I wondered: ‘What is making this resonate with people?’”

Sometimes, he joined in on the fun himself and fanned the flames. “If it flies? It spies! If it flies? It spies!” McIndoe chanted at a Birds Aren’t Really rally in Hollywood, California. “If it flies, it spies!” they chanted in return. 

“Birds aren’t real!” McIndoe shouted. About 200 protesters joined McIndoe at that rally, but he admitted that some of the protesters were part of the plan.

Keeping a straight face is part of the game. “I wake up every morning, just like you do. I brush my teeth; I wash my car, and I have an avid disbelief in avian beings,” McIndoe said with a straight face on WREG’s Live At 9 in 2019.

On 60 Minutes

Sharon Alfonsi of the CBS News show 60 Minutes interviewed the founder of Birds Aren’t Real, profiling McIndoe and his bizarrely successful social experiment. McIndoe broke character again, after doing the same in an interview with The New York Times in December 2021.

A clip of the interview generated 1.1 million views and counting on YouTube.

Following the election of Donald Trump, McIndoe noticed that at Trump protests for the Women’s March, the events would attract random counter protesters for various movements. The world felt so unstable to him that he thought he’d join in on the fun. McIndoe and some friends went to a protest in Memphis, Tennessee in 2017 and thought it would be funny to start shouting random absurd slogans such as “Birds aren’t real!!” Friends Claire Chronis, Cameron Kasky, and Connor Gaydos are now part of the movement.

“So it’s taking this concept of misinformation and almost building a little safe space to come together within it and laugh at it rather than be scared by it,” McIndoe said. “And accept the lunacy of it all and be a bird truther for a moment in time when everything’s so crazy.”

Weed Conspiracies

Misinformation affects us all, which is why High Times profiled “Eight of The Craziest Weed Conspiracies That Might Be True” in 2020. 

One of the most prevailing conspiracy theories about cannabis is that it can shorten penis length by a centimeter or that lowers sperm count. Yet, you can find peer-reviewed studies that both say cannabis can negatively impact sperm count, and a Harvard-led study showing that cannabis is linked with higher sperm concentrations. 

But the biggest cannabis conspiracy of all is the racist misinformation campaign led by people like Harry J. Anslinger. Angslinger’s conspiracy, however, had real and dangerous implications, leading to people being targeted.

Today, the rise of conspiracies is fueled by “digital cults” like QAnon, with people who are convinced that Satanic, cannibal politicians are indeed real, that celebrities secretly take Adrenochrome harvested from children, or that Bill Gates orchestrated COVID. 

Is Bird’s Aren’t Real any more absurd than those conspiracy theories?

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A whirlwind of conspiracy stretching across several states indicates a plot to alter elections and illegally obtain cannabis licenses in Nevada and other locations.

According to an indictment, which was unsealed for the public by the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York on March 14, a Russian oligarch colluded with American officials to allegedly score a cannabis license illegally in Nevada. According to federal prosecutors, the actions amount to illegal political campaign contributions.

Andrey Muraviev—who happens to be a Russian oligarch—was charged with violating federal campaign finance laws in 2018. Muraviev is accused of illegally funneling donations to former Nevada Attorney General Adam Laxalt—with the perk of winning an adult-use cannabis business license in Nevada. Laxalt has been accused of bribery before.

The news arrives at a time when businesses of all types are cutting ties with Russian oligarchs, albeit for a different reason, as the Ukraine conflict brews up.

Muraviev is charged with conspiring with Lev Parnas, Ukrainian-born Andrey Kukushkin and Igor Fruman and others—all of whom were convicted at trial or have pleaded guilty to related crimes. 

The five are charged with concocting a plot to get $1 million from Muraviev, and then give donations to political campaigns to back-scratch political candidates who could in turn pull strings to help Muraviev and co-conspirators obtain licenses.

A representative of the Nevada Cannabis Compliance Board (CCB) told High Times that they just discussed this particular issue at a recent board meeting that took place last December. “Muraviev was a lender and creditor, and it is the Board’s responsibility to know where funds go,” Chair Dennis Neilander said at a December 14 Cannabis Compliance Board meeting. “In this case, the funds came from an individual who is known to have associated with some other individuals that committed serious crimes.” Most members of the Board agreed.

Miami Herald reports that the plot involved securing cannabis licenses in several states, but it ultimately fizzled out after Parnas and Fruman and two other associates failed to submit the required paperwork on time to obtain licenses in Nevada and elsewhere.

Muraviev gained wealth as the CEO of a Russian cement company and through his holdings in the Russian online payment company QIWI. He had already invested in several California-based cannabis operations before he connected with Parnas and Fruman.

Muraviev is believed to be in Russia and remains at large, prosecutors said.

https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdny/press-release/file/1483151/download

Damian Williams, the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, and Michael J. Driscoll, the Assistant Director-in-Charge of the New York Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), announced the unsealing in a press release.

“As alleged, Andrey Muraviev, a Russian national, attempted to influence the 2018 elections by conspiring to push a million dollars of his foreign funds to candidates and campaigns,” FBI Assistant Director-in-Charge Michael J. Driscoll said. “He attempted to corrupt our political system to advance his business interests. The Southern District of New York is committed to rooting out efforts by foreigners to interfere with our elections.”

The actions show that federal prosecutors will not tolerate illegal donations that are intended to alter elections.

FBI Assistant Director-in-Charge Michael J. Driscoll agreed, saying “as alleged, Muraviev, a Russian foreign national, made illegal political contributions and conspired with Parnas, Kukushkin and Fruman to obscure their true source. The money Muraviev injected into our political system, as alleged, was directed to politicians with views favorable to his business interests and those of his co-conspirators. As today’s action demonstrates, we will continue to aggressively pursue all those who seek to illegally affect our nation’s elections.”

The Nevada Independent reports that Parnas was found guilty last October on six counts related to funneling money into U.S. campaigns, and Laxalt testified at the trial, saying Parnas promised to hold a fundraiser that never took place. 

Fruman pleaded guilty to illegal foreign campaign contributions in September last year.

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