(Source: MIRS.news, Published 10/23/2023) After former Michigan Medical Marijuana Licensing Board (MMLB) Chair Rick was sentenced to 55 months in federal prison for taking bribes, U.S. Attorney Mark Totten of Western Michigan said he wants to send a larger message: "We are paying attention."
Johnson oversaw the public board that oversaw the new industry between May 2017 and April 2019. While there, he's admitted to accepting at least $110,200 in bribes, commercial sex financed by others and trips to Canada on private aircraft.
According to Totten on today's episode of the MIRS Monday podcast, the several months of bribes consisted of "a fairly elaborate scheme to try to conceal it," from multiple limited liability companies being created, to burner phones to code names like Johnson's discovered alias, "Batman."
Although Johnson was sentenced to 55 months in federal prison, Totten said the average bribery sentence in the federal system during 2022 was 23 months, as well as 15 months in 2021.
"I will echo what I've heard the judge say as well, when she handed down these sentences is that perhaps one of the most important considerations here is general deterrence," Totten said on the podcast. "Which means sending a larger message to everyone who's watching that we are paying attention and that there is accountability for people who choose to use their office to pad their own pockets."
He described how informing the public of what occurred is "a really important part of making sure we squeeze everything we can out of these convictions."
The public corruption investigation involving the MMLB and Johnson continues to be ongoing, Totten explains, adding that some testimony offered earlier this month was subjected to back-and-forth exchanges with the judge because it fell outside the statute of limitations. Under the Federal Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), criminal violations of its anti-bribery provisions must be enforced within five years of the last act needed to complete the crime or violation.
Totten said the statute of limitations is obviously an important factor his office needs to take into account.
"This investigation began back in 2017, and mostly we're dealing with five-year statutes of limitations here," he said. "Typically, the Department of Justice does not publicly announce when investigations begin and when investigations close. We actually have some fairly strict rules about how we handle investigations and what we announce around them."
He also highlighted that because of the federal bribery statute his office works with, payments received before an individual is in office, such as any bribe Johnson might have received preemptively before becoming chair of the MMLB, are not subjected to the charges the U.S. attorney filed.
When it comes to the general subject of transparency in Michigan government, a poll commissioned by Progress Michigan, using a 725-voter sample and conducted from Oct. 9-10, found that 25% of respondents would be most disappointed if government transparency and lobbying reform was not acted on by the state Legislature before the end of 2023.
Preferences for government transparency and lobbying reform surpassed "affordable housing solutions," which 16% of survey participants said they would be most disappointed to not see get passed this year. Moreover, 15% listed the Reproductive Health Act (RHA) legislation, lifting various abortion regulations, as their prioritized policy item.
As a federal attorney, Totten said he will hold off on speaking about specific proposals, but he does really hope state officials, policymakers and lawmakers are paying attention to what happened in the case involving Johnson.
"I think (there are) a lot of questions that we need to ask. Do we have sufficient financial disclosure laws? Is the Freedom of Information Act broad enough to allow the type of scrutiny that can come (from) people who get that information?" Totten said. "What about the disclosure law around lobbyists? Two of the defendants here were lobbyists . . . and I think there's always a question, too, about enforcement. You can have the strongest laws on the books, but if they're not enforced, they don't mean much."
Totten hopes the series of convictions surrounding Johnson and the MMLB begin or hasten a discussion about whether there are sufficient mechanisms in place to ensure an integral system in Michigan.
"In the past 10 to 15 years, the (U.S.) Supreme Court, every time they have taken up the federal public corruption laws they have narrowed (them)," Totten said. "For those of us who enforce these laws, that's concerning."
