Criminal charges have not been dropped against a Brooklyn man who received a 106-pound shipment of hemp from Vermont; two weeks ago, police said the charges would be dropped after confirming the shipment to be hemp.
Charges Persist Against Hemp Shipment Recipient In Brooklyn
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The Brooklyn District Attorney has yet to drop the charges against a man who received a 106-pound shipment of hemp from Vermont, according to a Burlington Free Press report. Police had indicated two weeks ago that they planned to drop the charges against Ronen Levy but during a court appearance on Monday he was given another hearing date in May.
Ronen was initially arrested on November 4 after accepting the package meant for his brother, the owner of New York City-based Green Angel CBD, who was recovering from surgery. Police at the 75th precinct lauded the bust on Twitter but Oren said that the boxes contained documents that showed the THC content of the plants was 0.14 percent – well below the legal limits. Andrew Subin, an attorney for the Vermont farm that grew the hemp, said that police “didn’t know the legal limit” for hemp and wanted to do their own test despite the laboratory paperwork.
At a November 6 briefing, NYPD Chief of Department Terence A. Monahan said those tests were underway but on November 19 the Brooklyn district attorney’s office told NBC New York the charges would be dropped. Levy told the Free Press that he doesn’t know whether the plants – worth $30,000 – would be returned.
“They are playing with us now. This is definitely going to put me out of business,” Oren told the Free Press.
The hemp shipment was reported to police by FedEx, which includes hemp on its prohibited items list. UPS also does not permit hemp in plant form; but the U.S. Postal Service does. Interstate hemp transport is also allowed under USDA guidance.
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