A former Michigan lawmaker was sentenced Thursday to nearly five years in prison for accepting bribes while serving as chairman of the Marijuana Licensing Commission.
Rick Johnson Pleaded guilty to accepting at least $110,000 He led the board from 2017 to 2019.
“I’m a corrupt politician,” Johnson told the judge, The Detroit News reported.
Johnson was a powerful Republican congressman many years ago and served as Speaker of the House of Representatives from 2001 to 2004. He then became a lobbyist and eventually chaired a committee charged with reviewing and approving applications to grow and sell marijuana for medical purposes.
U.S. District Judge Jane Beckering sentenced Johnson to about 4 1/2 years in prison.
“You took advantage of your power and planned it even before you were appointed,” Becklin said.
Two lobbyists who called Johnson “Batman” in text messages also pleaded guilty to bribery-related charges. John Dalaly, a Detroit-area bribery businessman, was recently sentenced to more than two years in prison.
Prosecutors recommended nearly six years in prison for Johnson. In a court filing, they said one of the lobbyists paid him to have sex with women.
U.S. Attorney Mark Totten said after the hearing: “Rick Johnson’s blatant corruption tarnished a nascent industry, squandered the public’s trust and flouted a democracy that relies on the rule of law.”
In 2008, Michigan voters legalized medical marijuana. Ten years later, Voters approved recreational use of marijuana.
Governor Gretchen Whitmer Medical Marijuana Abolition Committee Within months of taking office in 2019, regulation of the industry was integrated into state agencies.
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