Medical Cannabis Club Owners Demand Return of Assets

The owners of a Newark medical marijuana collective are demanding the immediate return of assets seized during the June 28 raid, according to their attorneys.

Roberts & Elliot, LLP, is requesting that $61,573 be returned to members of the Uwanawich family, according to a press release issued Monday. The request is made "in prelude to filing of a lawsuit," the press release stated.

During the raid Bob Uwanawich and Teddy Miller were arrested and funds were confiscated from four bank accounts — both business and personal — at a location not described in the warrants served, according to the press release.

Of the $61,573 taken, $840 was from Uwanawich’s 13-year-old daughter’s piggy bank and $1,590 was seized from Uwanawich’s 18-year-old son’s wallet, according to Roberts & Elliot, LLP.

Uwanawich, 39, of Fremont and Miller, 47, of Salinas, owners of NBD Cannabis Collective, were arrested when officers with the Southern Alameda County Major Crimes Task Force and Newark Police Department raided four locations, including the collective at 7180 Thornton Ave.

The Southern Alameda County Major Crimes Task Force operates under the state Department of Justice.

There is no record of formal charges — filed or pending — against the pair at the Alameda County District Attorney’s Office as of Monday, according to Deputy District Attorney Teresa Drenick.

According to Special Agent Michelle Gregory with the state Department of Justice, the investigation is ongoing. She said once it is complete, evidence and information will be brought to the Alameda County District Attorney's Office and state charges will be filed.

Gregory said Tuesday the analysis of the money is being headed by State of California Tax Franchise Board. Analysis of the money is based upon law enforcement officers' belief Uwanawich and Miller were generating a profit through the collective, she has said.

The investigation of NBD Cannabis Collective began in March, 2011, according to Alameda County court documents.

Based on the investigation, which included surveillance and five undercover buys at the collective, a warrant was requested under the opinion that NBD was operating illegally, according to the affidavit.

During the raid, law enforcement officers found $30,000 in cash, a shotgun, 500 edibles and 20 pounds of processed marijuana for sale, Gregory told Patch at the time of the raid.

Uwanawich and Miller are both free on bail, which means there is no time limit for the department's investigation or the District Attorney's office to file charges, Gregory said on Tuesday.

Of the money taken from the owner's children's piggy bank and wallet, Gregory said, "Any money found in conjunction with drugs... will be seized during the investigation as proceeds."

She noted the people impacted can request the money back once everything is presented in court. Their request will be granted "if it is determined the money seized was not a result of criminal activity."

More than 90 percent of the monies seized were proceeds of a life insurance policy, according to the collective's attorneys. The press release also states, "The claim that NBD was operating for profit was not supported by a single fact in the affidavit."

According to Gregory, the collective was not operating under the proper guidelines set forth by California Department of Public Health’s Medical Marijuana Program and Senate Bill 420. The guidelines, for example, require selling to patients who have signed waivers.

In the affidavit, it is stated that undercover officers who entered the collective were required to sign waivers that include a clause that prescriptions from NBD cannot be resold.

On its website, which has since been taken down, NBD Collective stated that property of NBD "is to be used for medical purposes only, as stated by California Proposition 215 and SB420."

NBD Cannabis Collective has clashed with the city of Newark since it opened in December 2009. The collective does not have a business license to operate in Newark, city officials said.

Upon opening for business, city officials told the owners that Newark’s city code did not allow for a collective and informed them of how they could apply for permits if they wanted to proceed, according to Terrence Grindall, community development director.

"(The collective) never got a business license, never got a permit for their operation, (they) just operated illegally," Grindall has said. He has said non-profits need business licenses to operate.

But attorneys of Roberts & Elliot, LLP, said the collective does not require a business license to operate.

According to city code, "Charitable and Nonprofit Organizations" are exempt from being required to have a business license in order to operate within city limits. The city code states that "'Business' means professions, trades, and occupations and all and every kind of calling whether or not carried on for profit."

City code also states, "It is unlawful for any person to transact and carry on any business, trade, profession, calling or occupation in the city without first having procured a license from the city to do so or without complying with any and all applicable provisions of this chapter."

In prior court proceedings, the collective’s owners were asked to proceed with applying for permits and a business license through the city of Newark, Grindall said.

A about granting a conditional use permit for the medical cannabis dispensary that was scheduled for July 12 was postponed.

Calls to Newark city officials for clarification of municipal codes were not immediately returned as of Tuesday afternoon.

NBD Cannabis Collective has remained closed since June 28, but the press release states there is a plan to re-open the facility in the near future. Calls to the club have not been returned and the facility's voice mailbox is full.