Detroit-area businessman gets more than 2 years in prison for paying bribes for marijuana licence

Rick Johnson chairs the committee as it meets before a capacity crowd in Lansing, Mich., June 26, 2017, at the first open meeting of the Michigan Medical Marijuana Board. (Dale G Young/Detroit News via AP, File)

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. -

A Detroit-area businessman who bribed the head of a Michigan marijuana licensing board was sentenced Thursday to more than two years in federal prison.

John Dalaly said he provided at least US$68,200 in cash and other benefits to Rick Johnson, including two private flights to Canada.

Johnson was chairman of the marijuana board for two years before the board was disbanded in 2019. The board reviewed and approved applications to grow and sell marijuana for medical purposes.

Dalaly, 71, had a stake in a company that was seeking a license. He paid Johnson's wife over several months for help with the application process.

U.S. District Judge Jane Beckering sentenced Dalaly to 28 months in prison.

"John is proof that good men can make bad decisions," defence attorney Ray Cassar said in a court filing.

Johnson, a Republican, was a powerful Republican lawmaker years ago, serving as House speaker from 2001 through 2004. He has admitted accepting at least US$110,000 in bribes when he was on the marijuana board and is awaiting a sentence. Two lobbyists have also pleaded guilty.

"Public corruption is a poison to our democracy, and we will hold offenders accountable whenever and wherever we find them," U.S. Attorney Mark Totten said.

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer abolished the medical marijuana board a few months after taking office in 2019 and put oversight of the industry inside a state agency.

Michigan voters legalized marijuana for medical purposes in 2008. A decade later, voters approved the recreational use of marijuana.