Remember when Nixon was cornered about Watergate and the Supreme Court ordered him to turn over the transcripts of his taped White House conversations?

In fact, it proved beyond a shadow of a doubt his guilt.

I guess Nixon figured nobody would actually read the thousands of pages to find the smoking guns hidden in the text. 
Yesterday, Rev. Imler circulated the federal indictment in my case far and wide.
One can almost hear the voice of Richard Nixon in Imler's introduction to the federal prosecution's case against me:

And it absolves Imler of nothing.

After wading through 200 paragraphs of its eight counts, what the indictment describes is:

Rev. Imler presented the full indictment in three long e-mails, knowing full well very few people are going to wade through page after page of dreary federal prose.

But even a casual reading reveals Rev. Imler as the informant that he is.
I maintain that most of what he said is false, but even if it were true,
the fact that this information came to the feds through Imler is indisputable.

To save you the time of reading it all, I have excerpted the best bits below.

"11. Defendant PETER McWILLIAMS would attempt to negotiate contracts for the sale of harvested marijuana and marijuana plant clones."

My plan, in fact, was (and still is) to use my nonprofit 501(c)3 company, the MEDICAL BOTANICAL FOUNDATION, to get medical marijuana into pharmacies, just like any other medication.

When I told Rev. Imler this, he turned white.
It would, after all, put his "Club" out of business.
Were I to guess, I would say this had something to do with Rev. Imler's more-than-enthusiastic desire for my arrest.

"36. In or about May, 1997, in Los Angeles, California, defendant PETER McWILLIAMS asked an employee of the Los Angeles Cannabis Buyers' Club whether the club was interested in buying marijuana."

The "employee," as you may have guessed, is Rev. Imler.
As there were only two people there, and as I have not talked to the feds about it,
the only place the feds could have gotten this information is from Rev.Imler himself.
As anyone following federal drug cases knows, that statement alone from Rev. Imler is enough to put me away for
ten-year-to-life for "conspiracy."

"55. In or about June, 1997, in Los Angeles, California, defendant PETER McWILLIAMS told an employee of the Los Angeles Cannabis Buyer' s Club that he was funding defendant TODD McCORMICK's marijuana grow at the Stone Canyon residence, that he wanted to become the "Bill Gates of medical marijuana," that "they" intended to become and distribute high quality marijuana clones through the mail, and that he wanted to enter into a grow contract with the club for the sale of marijuana at $4,800 per pound."

What I said was that I wanted to be the Larry Flynt of medical marijuana;
that I wanted to do for green what Larry had done for pink.

Through the MEDICAL BOTANICAL FOUNDATION  I intended (and still do) to be "the largest supplier of medical marijuana in the country..." but only legally and only though pharmacies after medical marijuana had been made a Schedule II prescription drug.

The rest of it, right down to the price per pound, is all from Rev. Imler's imagination.
One can just imagine DEA agents and federal prosecutors pressing Imler for more incriminating details,
and Imler provided them
.

After Todd's bust on July 29, 1997, the first federal medical marijuana bust since the passage of 215 in November 1996,
I immediately donated everything I had to an organization I still believed was dedicated to getting medical marijuana
to the sick, the Los Angeles Cannabis Buyer's Club.

"110. On or about August, 1997, in Los Angeles, California, defendant PETER McWILLIAMS attempted to distribute numerous marijuana plants, grow lights and other equipment to the Los Angeles Cannabis Buyer's Club in order to prevent the discovery of the marijuana grow at the 8165 Mannix residence.

"111. In or about August, l997, at the 8165 Mannix residence, defendants PETER McWILLIAMS and ANDREW SCOTT HASS, distributed processed marijuana, numerous grow lights, light movers, fans, timers and electrical equipment to employees of the Los Angeles Cannabis Buyer's Club in order to prevent the discovery of the marijuana grow at the 8165 Mannix residence."

Here, I'm giving Imler all this stuff for free, and all the while he's freely talking to the DEA about my donations.
The lights, light movers, etc. I donated, but no "processed marijuana."

"112. In on or about August, 1997, in Los Angeles, California, defendant ANDREW SCOTT HASS discussed with employees of the Los Angeles Cannabis Buyer's Club his role in setting up the indoor marijuana cultivation room at the Stone Canyon residence, the creation of an electronically controlled, indoor, hydroponic marijuana grow at the club's office, and the distribution of defendant PETER McWILLIAMS' marijuana plants to the club."

I can guarantee you that Andrew Scott Hass never told the feds any of this,
which leaves the source of information as "employees of the Los Angeles Cannabis Buyer's Club."
What I had offered to do, in fact, was install a state-of-the-art hydroponic system at the Club as a donation.

Andrew Scott Hass and I were researching the most efficient ways of cultivating medical marijuana
for the MEDICAL BOTANICAL FOUNDATION.
As Imler at that time had had several disasters in growing marijuana for his Club,
I offered assistance.

Although I was not part of the conversation described in 112, I have a feeling Imler invented much of it.
Hass, for example, seldom went to Todd's house ("the Stone Canyon Residence"),
so "his role in setting up the indoor marijuana cultivation room at the Stone Canyon residence" at Todd's strains my credulity.

"113. In or about August, 1997, in Los Angeles, California.  defendants PETER McWILLIAMS and
ANDREW SCOTT HASS offered to sell  the Los Angeles Cannabis Buyer's Club  marijuana at $4,000 per pound."

Reduced from $4,800, apparently.

At 111 I "distributed processed marijuana" to the Club for no money, then I turn around and try to sell marijuana for $4,000 a pound. At what point did I turn from being one of the Club's most generous benefactors to being a greedy supplier?

And why was this sale never consummated? Where's the money?

But, again, this is not about what I did or did not do.
A jury will determine that, and I will either spend the rest of my life in prison or I will not.
(A 10-year mandatory minimum is a death sentence to anyone with AIDS.)

Todd McCormick, the other co-defendants, and myself face a possible life prison sentence,
with a mandatory minimum of ten years.

Even were all charges dropped tomorrow, the past year-and-a-half has been a living hell for all of us.

Oh, he's so clever.

Finally, there has been some talk about violence against Rev. Imler. I am wholly opposed to this.
I doubt if anyone seriously intends to harm Imler. I tend to think the rhetoric just get a bit heated at times.
After all, the name of a popular sitcom is "Just Shoot Me."

Those of us in the medical marijuana movement are motivated by healing, not violence.
It's time to declare peace on drugs, not war on snitches.

Sincerely,
Peter McWilliams
peter@mcwilliams.com
www.mcwilliams.com
www.marijuanamagazine.com