OWNER OF SIX L.A.-AREA MEDICAL MARIJUANA DISPENSARIES IS ARRESTED

He and His Wife Are Indicted on Federal Drug Charges After an
Investigation of a Fatal Accident That Also Left a CHP Officer Paralyzed.

By Scott Glover, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer

The owner of six Los Angeles-area medical marijuana dispensaries was
arrested by federal agents Tuesday after an investigation sparked by
a traffic accident in which a motorist allegedly high on one of the
dispensaries' products plowed into a parked SUV, killing the driver
and paralyzing a California Highway Patrol officer.

In the aftermath of the Dec. 19 accident, investigators found "a
large amount of marijuana and marijuana edibles" in the pickup truck
driven by the suspect, Jeremy White, 20, of Paso Robles, Calif.,
according to federal authorities.

White allegedly admitted to being under the influence of marijuana
that he said he obtained from a dispensary in Compton.

Investigators traced the marijuana to the Holistic Caregivers
facility in Compton, one of six dispensaries owned and operated by
Virgil Grant, 41. Grant's other facilities are in Gardena, Los
Angeles and Van Nuys.

Drug Enforcement Administration agents set up undercover buys at each
of the facilities, in which an operative with a doctor's
recommendation but with "no serious medical ailments" was sold
medicinal marijuana, according to an affidavit filed in U.S. District
Court in Los Angeles.

In one transaction, a dispensary employee sold the informant a pound
of marijuana for $5,700 out of the back door of the facility, the
affidavit states.

Grant and his wife, Pshyra, 33, were arrested Tuesday morning at
their home in Carson after being charged in a 41-count indictment
returned by a federal grand jury last week.

Virgil Grant was charged with drug conspiracy, money laundering and
operating a drug-involved premises within 1,000 feet of a school.
Pshyra Grant was charged with drug conspiracy and 22 counts of money
laundering.

At a bond hearing Tuesday, Assistant U.S. Atty. Mark Childs asked
that Virgil Grant be held without bail, noting that he had previous
conviction on drugs- and weapons-related offenses. Bond was set at
$250,000 for Virgil Grant, and $50,000 for his wife.

Virgil Grant's attorney, Roger Rosen, said his client would plead not
guilty, but declined to comment further.

Also indicted was Jerome Cole, 39, the employee who allegedly sold
the pound of marijuana to the DEA operative. Cole was being sought by
authorities.

The sale of marijuana for medical purposes is allowed under state
law. But federal law prohibits its sale under any circumstances.
Given that difficult legal landscape, federal authorities tend to
prosecute cases in which dispensaries aren't in compliance with state
law or in which there is some other aggravating factor.

Even before last week's indictment, Compton officials were "trying to
rid the city" of Grant's dispensary, according to court papers.

A deputy city attorney told DEA agents that Grant initially obtained
a business license for an "herbal" retail store. Only later did city
officials learn that he was operating a medical marijuana dispensary,
the court papers allege. His license has since expired, but Grant
continued doing business, despite being cited by code enforcement
officers for operating without a license.

The accident that prompted authorities to begin investigating Grant
occurred after CHP Officer Anthony Pedeferri had just pulled over
Andreas Parra, a 20-year-old motorist from Phoenix, during a routine
traffic stop.

Pedeferri had dismounted his motorcycle and was talking to Parra when
White's pickup drifted out of the northbound lanes of the 101 Freeway
near Ventura and careened into Parra's SUV. Parra was killed.

Pedeferri, a triathlete and the father of two girls, was knocked out
of his boots and thrown 20 yards into brush along the side of the
road, according to news reports. He was left paralyzed by his injuries.

White was charged with gross vehicular manslaughter and is awaiting
trial. At his preliminary hearing in April, a Ventura County
sheriff's forensic expert testified that there was a high
concentration of marijuana in White's blood at the time of his
arrest, according to an article in the Ventura County Star.

"It's one of the highest levels I recall seeing," Dea Boehme, a
supervisor with the Ventura County sheriff's Forensic Sciences
Laboratory, testified.