By Stephen Thomson, Georgia StraightVancouver marijuana activist and entrepreneur Marc Emery is scheduled to appear in Seattle court tomorrow (September 10) to face sentencing on charges related to an on-line seed-selling business.
Emery was arrested in 2005 as the result of the combined effort of Canadian and U.S. law enforcement agencies.
When his bail term expired in May of this year, Emery surrendered himself to authorities in Vancouver and the federal justice minister approved his extradition to Washington State.
Emery, who is being held at SeaTac Federal Detention Center, is expected to receive a five-year sentence arranged through a plea deal, said his wife, Jodie Emery.
She said the hope is to then win support from the Canadian government to have her husband, a politically active magazine publisher who for years has championed marijuana-law reform, transferred back to his home country to serve his sentence.
“There’s no reason Marc should be serving any time down there, of course,” she told the Straight today by phone. “So we hope that he can at least be brought home. That’s our main goal, just to bring him home.”
Marc Emery is set to appear before judge Ricardo Martinez at 1:30 p.m. tomorrow.
Meanwhile, supporters are expected to turn out for dozens of “Free Marc Emery” rallies planned around North America and in other countries for September 18.