The Z-Bo Bust

JCizzle

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Dec 11, 2006
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Zach Randolph. Oh my!

According to CBS 2 in Los Angeles, Sacramento Kings power forward Zach Randolph was arrested on felony charges of drug possession and intent to sell in the Watts neighborhood of Los Angeles last night.

http://deadspin.com/report-zach-randolph-arrested-for-possession-and-inten-1797713793
This comment from the article is outstanding:

It’s cool to see an older player still developing his game this late in his career. The Kings knew they were signing a great rebounder and post scorer, but now they’re getting a distributor too.
 

NickEsasky

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The intent to sell charge is hilarious. The guy is a multimillionaire, he's not buying dimebags. I think the "I can afford and smoke a metric f*ckton of weed" defense should apply here.
 

Sam Ray Not

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The intent to sell charge is hilarious. The guy is a multimillionaire, he's not buying dimebags. I think the "I can afford and smoke a metric f*ckton of weed" defense should apply here.
Totally agreed in theory; we'll see how well that holds up against "you're black and the new AG is Jeff Sessions." :-(
 

LondonSox

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I don't know what a large amount of weed is in California now. If you have a card you can have something like 5 pounds
If you don't have a card I still think you can carry now, not 100% as the rules are changing.

In short he needed a metric fuck tonne, or be actually caught selling it for local cops to care, federal of course view it differently

Could be a super interesting case, not least because if he claims it's his and legal, what does the NBA do ?
 

ElUno20

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The most amazing part of this story is he was in Nickerson Gardens. That blew my mind
 

cheech13

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The most amazing part of this story is he was in Nickerson Gardens. That blew my mind
Everyone needs to do a google image search of Nickerson Gardens and then try to figure out why a multimillionaire is spending his summer vacation there.
 

wade boggs chicken dinner

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As for ZBo - he apparently had two pounds of weed in a backpack. As the article notes, it's kind of ridiculous that he was carrying it himself.

Without looking it up, given the fact that weed is legal in CA, the statutory scheme has to be that if he has that much weed, it presumes an intent to sell, the logic being that why else would someone have that much weed.

ZBo facing a potential lifetime ban from the NBA for this. Isn't the purpose of having a posse/bodyguards is to have them hold stuff like this for you?
 

Kliq

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As for ZBo - he apparently had two pounds of weed in a backpack. As the article notes, it's kind of ridiculous that he was carrying it himself.

Without looking it up, given the fact that weed is legal in CA, the statutory scheme has to be that if he has that much weed, it presumes an intent to sell, the logic being that why else would someone have that much weed.

ZBo facing a potential lifetime ban from the NBA for this. Isn't the purpose of having a posse/bodyguards is to have them hold stuff like this for you?
Never would have happened to Cris Carter.
 

ALiveH

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I'm not sure what the intent of the law was - but intent to distribute sounds like it includes giving away, not necessarily taking money for it. Carrying 2 pounds of weed could be proof of intent to distribute because who can possibly smoke that much by himself? In any case I think distribution laws as written are well defined based on quantities and don't really need to prove any kind of intent in court.
 

HomeRunBaker

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I'm not sure what the intent of the law was - but intent to distribute sounds like it includes giving away, not necessarily taking money for it. Carrying 2 pounds of weed could be proof of intent to distribute because who can possibly smoke that much by himself? In any case I think distribution laws as written are well defined based on quantities and don't really need to prove any kind of intent in court.
I always thought that there was a lot of subjectivity to prove intent aside from simply carrying x-amount of weed and that the prosecutor would need ample circumstantial evidence to convict.

If Z-Bo had no informants testifying against him, no paraphernalia such as scales to suggest a packaging operating, no tape of individuals involved in a transaction with him, no guns or no large sums of cash........his attorney should be able to have the distribution charge dismissed from my understanding. I'm sure there are others here with more expertise in this field than myself though.
 

ALiveH

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Thanks. IANAL so hopefully a lawyer can definitively chime in at some point.
 

sezwho

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I'm not sure what the intent of the law was - but intent to distribute sounds like it includes giving away, not necessarily taking money for it
I was surprised to learn this, but the circumstantial evidence (drug volume/scales/paraphernalia/cash/etc) in the arrest can allow a CA prosecutor to assume intent to distribute even without demonstrating intent to actually sell. Not sure other states, but hard to imagine they wouldn't all be even more restrictive.

Carrying 2 pounds of weed could be proof of intent to distribute because who can possibly smoke that much by himself?
I definitely know people who would like to try.

Also, if you are the guy who shows up with weed for the 2000+ unit Nickerson Gardens street party in Compton...probably best if you don't run out.
 

Cesar Crespo

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Dec 22, 2002
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2 pounds of pot would last one person at least a year unless they were generous with friends. That's 5 eighths a week. 2 1/2 grams a day. That's a lot of pot.
 

Kenny F'ing Powers

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2 pounds of pot would last one person at least a year unless they were generous with friends. That's 5 eighths a week. 2 1/2 grams a day. That's a lot of pot.
Meh. I have a friend that smokes a half ounce a week, so this is pretty much in line. Then you consider he's probably doing some heavy blunt sharing...for a guy throwing plenty of parties, it's really not out of the realm of possibility to rip through that in a month or two.
 

Kenny F'ing Powers

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I love the Kenny Fucking Powers is the guy who has a friend who smokes 2 ounces a month. Of course :)
I didn't believe it when I first heard it. Of course, he only smokes blunts, which I feel is the biggest waste of weed unless you're sharing with a group.

Alright, done side-tracking the thread.
 

LondonSox

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I'm not sure what the intent of the law was - but intent to distribute sounds like it includes giving away, not necessarily taking money for it. Carrying 2 pounds of weed could be proof of intent to distribute because who can possibly smoke that much by himself? In any case I think distribution laws as written are well defined based on quantities and don't really need to prove any kind of intent in court.
Ok but intent to sell to who?
With a medical card and selling to a licensed distributer is not illegal.
And 2 pounds is a lot but when my plants mature I have 7 outside and the yield is likely in the region of a pound a plant.

6 is legal without a card. So ... I just don't see California having any case here really. Without evidence he is selling to specific people.

A lot of you are chiming in with zero knowledge here. No idea why.

Bottom line with a card he's not done anything illegal in California, if the feds are involved different story.

If he doesn't have a medical card I'm not 100% where the laws are as they changed this year and again next and I lose track. He's also an idiot if he doesn't have a card.

If he does. I don't get the issue.
I'm gonna sell 5 -8 pounds of weed in the fall to my dispensary. All 100% legit.
 

Cesar Crespo

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I love the Kenny Fucking Powers is the guy who has a friend who smokes 2 ounces a month. Of course :)
I know quite a few people who smoke about half an oz a week, it's not really that much. Even then, if you do smoke 2 oz a month, 2 pounds is going to last you 16 months. Of course if Randolph had 3-4 house mates and threw a party 2-3 nights a week... 2 pounds might last a month. Is it legal to share your stash with friends and family?
 

Cesar Crespo

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Dec 22, 2002
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Latter - i.e., how you know that smoking blunts are a waste of weed.
He said it's his opinion, how would he not know his opinion? It's also an opinion I agree with. Blunts burn through weed like no tomorrow and it's over consumption for 1 person to smoke a blunt to their head. For conservation, bowls and joints are better for a person smoking alone or with one other person. Bongs are ok too but suck in groups. Hookahs and blunts for groups, basically.
 

DJnVa

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Dec 16, 2010
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A lot of you are chiming in with zero knowledge here. No idea why.

Bottom line with a card he's not done anything illegal in California, if the feds are involved different story.

If he doesn't have a medical card I'm not 100% where the laws are as they changed this year and again next and I lose track. He's also an idiot if he doesn't have a card.

If he does. I don't get the issue.
I'm gonna sell 5 -8 pounds of weed in the fall to my dispensary. All 100% legit.
Look, just having a bit of fun with you, but you start by saying folks are chiming in with no knowledge and then you go: if, if, I'm not 100%, I lose track, if, if.
 

HomeRunBaker

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I know quite a few people who smoke about half an oz a week, it's not really that much. Even then, if you do smoke 2 oz a month, 2 pounds is going to last you 16 months. Of course if Randolph had 3-4 house mates and threw a party 2-3 nights a week... 2 pounds might last a month. Is it legal to share your stash with friends and family?
Let's remember that this is Zach Randolph, President and CEO of "Hoops Family" who is known to party with unwards of 100 people at his mansion. This isn't me, you and two of our buddies chilling out watching Law and Order on a Tuesday night.......that shit would have been smoked in two weeks.

Z-Bo has been arrested and charges with distribution in the past I want to say with Portland although it could have been Memphis and I'm thinking of other members of Hoops Family who were arrested for selling when they were in Portland. It really is amazing that a guy like this with known Crips gang members as part of his crew would last past his mid-30's in the NBA.......something usually happens to these guys much earlier in their careers or they lose interest in the game/work needed to continue playing the game.

Side note......I want to be a member of London Sox's Hoop Family.
 

wade boggs chicken dinner

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He said it's his opinion, how would he not know his opinion? It's also an opinion I agree with. Blunts burn through weed like no tomorrow and it's over consumption for 1 person to smoke a blunt to their head. For conservation, bowls and joints are better for a person smoking alone or with one other person. Bongs are ok too but suck in groups. Hookahs and blunts for groups, basically.
was curious to know what his opinion was based on but more of a gag than anything else. Will drop it here.
 

SumnerH

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Jul 18, 2005
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Sounds like there was a bigger incident that he was caught up in, it wasn't the weed on its own that prompted the arrest:

Sacramento Kings power forward Zach Randolph was one of two men arrested after a mob confronted police at a housing project in the Los Angeles neighborhood of Watts.

The incident began Wednesday night at around 10 p.m. in the Nickerson Garden Housing Project near 112th Street and Zamora Avenue. Los Angeles police noticed a group of people gathering in the area. When officers responded, a mob formed and began to destroy police cruisers and throw objects at officers
http://losangeles.cbslocal.com/2017/08/10/nba-star-zach-randolph-arrested/


Bottom line with a card he's not done anything illegal in California, if the feds are involved different story.
The fact that weed is only illegal under federal law in CA doesn't mean that it's not illegal in CA, nor does it mean that only federal agents can arrest people for it--generally local cops can arrest people for federal violations, outside of some areas like immigration where federal law specifically prohibits it. And for drug crimes it's extremely common--something like 90% of arrests for federal drug crimes are made by state and local police.

In general the CA cops aren't going to go out of their way to arrest people for weed, but they might if it's a case where they're pissed about something else (eg if the mob story is true).

At least for now. California is debating a bill to prohibit state cops from making federal weed arrests; it passed the House in June but it hasn't passed the Senate yet AFAIK.