Lisa Roose-Church

Livingston Daily

The man apparently at the center of an alleged million-dollar marijuana distribution investigation says officers “stole … medicine” to line their own pockets.

Darryl Berry, of Howell Township, also alleges officers with the Western Wayne Narcotics and Criminal Investigations Unit used weak civil forfeiture laws to seize his personal property — including vehicles, weapons and computers — as well as property from people he says he visited and/or taught how to grow marijuana for medicinal purposes.

“They stole from me,” Berry alleges about undercover narcotics officers who raided his marijuana “garden” and home Sept. 28.

Seized in the investigation from the homes or property of the 12 named in court documents was an estimated 545 plants; about 15 pounds of marijuana; 7 pounds of processed marijuana and suspected marijuana edibles; and $195,983 in cash.

“They did what they do in every case. They come in and raid you; they never throw charges on you, but they steal your property,” Berry said. “I’m not a drug dealer. None of my (medical marijuana) patients can even afford to buy it. I give them their year’s worth for free. I get my donations off the rest of the plants.”

As of Friday, no criminal charges have been filed in Livingston County against any of the 12 people, including Berry, listed in court documents as people an undercover officer said are “involved in the growth and distribution of marijuana under the guise of the Medical Marihuana Act.”

However, a civil suit is pending that seeks to seize property — homes, cash, cellphones, computers, vehicles, guns and bank accounts — from each of the 12 people.

A bench trial has been tentatively scheduled in November.

A message to the Michigan attorney general’s office for comment was not returned.

Inspector James Wolf, section commander of the Western Wayne Narcotics and Criminal Investigations Unit, confirmed officers seized property from Berry’s residence under the Michigan Forfeiture Act, but he did not release additional information due to the ongoing investigation.

“(Berry) was served with paperwork, and he will have an opportunity to dispute that in court, just like a criminal case,” the inspector said Friday.

Wolf earlier confirmed that the Western Wayne team’s 15-month investigation involved a “marijuana-distribution operation … (operating) under the disguise of the Michigan Medical Marihuana Act.” However, he has not identified possible suspects or locations police searched.

An affidavit filed with the court to seize the property identifies the people of interest as Berry, his wife, Amy Berry, and two sons, Dallas Berry and Dalton Berry; as well as Fowlerville residents Jeffrey Michael and Nathan Michael; Gregory resident Joseph Zubor; Howell Township residents Dennis James and Linda James; Genesee County couple Johnny Glenn Cooper and Laurie Cooper; and Norman Webb, of Howell.

Efforts to locate other members of the group were unsuccessful.

The affidavit noted that officers believe those 12 people “are involved in a large-scale marijuana grow operation, cultivating the plants for sale and profit.”

Darryl Berry said he did not sell marijuana, but received “donations” from other caregivers “who have their own patients,” but who lose their gardens in the summer.

“They get a plant from me in October to revamp themselves,” he explained.

Darryl Berry speaks proudly about what he calls his “marijuana garden,” a 20,000-square-foot area surrounded by a 12-foot high fence on his Fisher Road property. He said he had less than 140 marijuana plants that stood about 12 feet tall when undercover narcotics officers raided his garden and home.

He said officers destroyed his home, turning over beds, tables and dumping drawers on the floor.

Darryl Berry said both he and his wife are licensed caregivers under the state’s Medical Marihuana Act and they “were legal” in 2012 when police first raided his home.

Since that time, Darryl Berry said, he has invited police into his garden to ensure that he is meeting the requirements under the law.

Darryl Berry said his knack for growing marijuana plants led him to begin consulting with other growers, including those named in court documents.

“I researched every part of the law and made sure there was no chance I’d be illegal,” he said. “I grew plants. …

“I cut the plant and people hauled it away. … They had unsuccessful gardens (and) I consulted with them,” Darryl Berry noted.

Under the state’s Medical Marihuana Act, which was approved by voters in November 2008, a caregiver can possess up to 2.5 ounces of usable marijuana and may possess up to 12 marijuana plants in an enclosed and locked facility for each registered qualifying patient. A registered caregiver can have up to five registered qualifying patients.

Court documents show that an undercover police agent offered to purchase multiple marijuana plants from Darryl Berry’s outdoor “marijuana garden” as well as other locations on at least five separate occasions in August. The undercover officer said Darryl Berry did not verify whether he had a valid medical marijuana card.

On Sept. 26, a Michigan State Police sergeant executed a “flyover” of four locations officers allege they observed Darryl Berry spending hours at on various days. Those locations were his home on Fisher Road as well as the Michael home on Crofoot Road in Fowlerville; Zubor’s home on Weller Road in Gregory; and the Coopers’ home on Baldwin Road in Fenton.

According to county deed records, Darryl Berry owns the Zubor home.

Police allege Darryl Berry paid “his associates” $50,000 to use their land for his outdoor marijuana grows, but Darryl Berry denies that allegation.

The Michaels family is asking a judge to dismiss the claims against them, alleging “there is no factual allegation … that any of the Michaels sold any marijuana, merely that marijuana was present on their property.”

That hearing is set for Feb. 9 in Brighton.

After the flyover, Darryl Berry said at least 50 officers raided his home and garden while hundreds were spread throughout the other locations at the same time.

In the end, officers seized 556 large, tree-size plants that Wolf described as being about 8 feet tall and 6 feet wide. One suspect, Wolf said, indicated that each plant could yield between 3 pounds and 6 pounds of marijuana.

In total, that equates to an estimated street value of $500,000 to $1 million if sold in Livingston County.

Darryl Berry estimated officers seized in total about “3,000 pounds of marijuana” that he said would fetch “$7 million to $10 million.”

“They figured out a way to steal from me and that’s what it broke down to,” Darryl Berry said. “They came and robbed me. To them I’m just a drug dealer and they are 200 officers who don’t get paid what they should get paid.”

Darryl Berry alleges police wanted his medical marijuana to sell to dispensaries.

Wolf denies that allegation, saying, “Western Wayne Narcotics (team) does not sell marijuana to dispensaries.”

An undercover officer with the team said officer placed illegal drugs seized into evidence and it is tested at the Michigan State Police crime lab and eventually destroyed.

Darryl Berry maintains he’s an innocent man. He said he’s started a GoFundMe page — www.gofundme.com/re772qv4 — to raise money to replace what “police stole” from him.

“To them, I’m a sacrificial lamb,” he said.

Correction: This story has been updated to correct a photo caption that should have stated, as the accompanying story did, that Darryl Berry claimed he grew marijuana for individual patients as licensed under the state’s Medical Marihuana Act in exchange for donations.

Contact Livingston Daily justice reporter Lisa Roose-Church at 517-552-2846 or lrchurch@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter @LisaRooseChurch.