COUNCIL CANDIDATE ARRESTED FOR ALLEGED MARIJUANA OPERATION

Hageman Had 250 Plants Worth Half-Million Dollars In Basement, Drug
Agents Say

Michael O. Hageman, a novelty shop owner running for Common Council,
was arrested Friday when drug agents seized 250 marijuana plants from
the basement of his south side business, a spokesman for the state
Justice Department said.

Hageman, 56, was in custody late Friday in the Milwaukee County Jail
and faces charges of manufacturing marijuana and possession of
marijuana with intent to deliver, said Jim Haney, an aide to Attorney
General James Doyle.

Special agents from the Justice Department's Division of Narcotics
Enforcement executed a search warrant about 4:30 p.m. at Merlin's
Lair, 2505 S. Howell Ave., where they seized marijuana-growing
apparatus and plants ranging in height from 6 inches to 7 feet, Haney
said.

The estimated street value of the marijuana was $500,000, Haney
said.

Agents began investigating Hageman after an anonymous tip that the
aldermanic candidate was growing marijuana in the basement of his
shop. A narcotics enforcement agent went to the business, smelled
marijuana and noticed unusual venting in the business consistent with
a marijuana-growing operation, Haney said.

Bail had not been set for Hageman as of late Friday.

Hageman is running against Ald. Suzanne Breier in the 14th Aldermanic
District. In January, the City Election Commission agreed with Breier
that Hageman and another challenger, Jeffrey Freitag, had filed
incomplete nomination petitions.

But on Feb. 17, the state Elections Board reinstated Hageman in the
April 4 race.

Signs on Hageman's shop, which sells such items as tie-dyed shirts,
incense and Gothic crafts, proclaim him the "People's Choice."