DRUG SUSPECT CLAIMS HE WAS SET UP BY AUTHORITIES

MARYVILLE -- A 23-year-old Knoxville man thinks he was set up by Blount
County authorities during a recent drug investigation.

Marcus Washington, who was a manager of the Foothills Carmike Theater when
the incident occurred, was arrested Nov. 14 during a drug roundup of
suspects during an undercover investigation.

He said he was charged with the resale of parapernalia for selling a pipe
to an employee who apparently was an undercover drug agent. He is free on
$1000 bond and faces a hearing Dec. 4 in General Sessions Cout, he said.

Washington, who now works for Fox 43 television station, is an advocate of
decriminalizing marijuana laws. He operates an Internet Web site listing a
variety of paraphernalia often associated with drug use.

He also said he is a "head shop" owner.

"I feel like that because of my views, I was definitely targeted," he
said. "With my political and religious views, I was singled out."
Washington is also an ordained minister with the Universal Life Church.

His troubles began when an employee approached him at the theater last
summer and asked him to buy some marijuana, Washington said. He said he
told the man he did not have any and would not be getting any. He said he
is on probation from a charge of resale of marijuana in Knox County and
cannot get into trouble again.

Next, he said, the employee saw him working on his website Sept. 29 and
asked if he could buy a certain kind of glass pipe. The pipe is
manfactured by Cascade Glass of Eugene, Ore., and is sold as a "tobacco
pipe." Washington said he called his wife, April, and told her to bring
the pipe. He said she arrived at the theater and sold the pipe to the
employee, giving him a receipt for it.

He next heard about the incident Nov. 14 when he saw on television news
that a drug roundup was being conducted in Blount County.

"I next heard something about 8 or 9 p.m.," he said. "I heard a knock on
the door, and I looked out. There were a bunch of police cars out
front. I opened the door, holding my 15-month-old daughter in my arms.
There was a federal agent and sheriff's deputies."

He called his parents to take care of his children while his wife was at
work. They arrived, and the officers took him into custody, handcuffed
him, walked hi through his yard and put him in te back seat of a police
cruiser. He was taken to the Blount County Justice Center, where nine
hours later he was released on bond.

At his hearing Monday, Washington announced that he would represent
himself, he said. During the hearing, he said an assistant district
attorney general asked him outside to talk about his plea. The second
time, he said the man offered to reduce it to a misdemeanor with a sentence
of 11 months and 29 days, suspended after 60 days and a fine.

"I told him, 'No, sir, I am going to fight,'" Washington said.

Washington said he will represent himself in court unless he can find an
attorney to take the case for no fee. He plans to contact the Cannabis
Action Network of Florida, an organization that works for drug-law
reform. He said the organization has an attorney in Knoxville who might
take his case.

"They may take the case," Washington said. "Otherwise, they might help me
when I argue the case." Complete Article (588 words.) www.knoxnews.com
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