'Candy Crush' saga store owners allowed to reopen

Feb 16, 2018 at 11:15 am by Michelle Willard

Operation Candy Crush

The vapor and discount tobacco stores caught up in "Operation Candy Crush" get to reopen Friday evening after a Rutherford County judge ruled in their favor.

Rutherford County Circuit Court Judge Royce Taylor will allow the businesses in question to reopen as long as they don't sell any products containing CBD until their next court date, which is set for March 19.

"I was so elated and happy," defendant Stacey Hamilton said following the hearing Friday afternoon.

Hamilton said she will open her two Kaleidoscope Custom Vapor Lounge locations at 5 p.m. Friday.

Hamilton and 16 other defendants were arraigned Friday morning in Taylor's court following a county-wide sting held Monday morning that served 21 indictments and confiscated products containing cannabidiol, as well as cash and cash registers.

RELATED: 'Operation Candy Crush' leaves 23 Rutherford businesses padlocked

RELATED: Was Rutherford County's CBD item bust legal? One expert says no.

Dubbed "Operation Candy Crush," the indictments come from undercover officers from the Sheriff’s Office and Smyrna Police Department purchasing products containing cannabidiol, a.k.a., CBD, at the 23 stores.

Rutherford County District Attorney Jennings Jones obtained indictments for 21 individuals and charged them with felonies for possessing and selling a schedule VI drug, as well as civil charges.

In court Friday morning, each defendant pleaded not guilty to the felony charges. If found guilty, they each face two to 12 years in prison and a fine of up to $5,000 for each charge.

At a hearing for the civil cases Friday afternoon, Taylor issued a ruling that allowed the businesses to reopen and placed the burden of proof on the Rutherford County District Attorney's Office to prove that the confiscated products violate state law.

The DA must be able to prove that the products contain CBD that is derived from marijuana and not industrial hemp for the charges to stand, Hamilton said.

"His full statement let us all know that if it is derived from industrial hemp, it's legal," Hamilton said.

In the days since the arrests, advocates for the production and use of industrial hemp have questioned whether Jones obtained the indictments under the wrong law.

Joe Kirkpatrick, president Tennessee Hemp Industries Association, said the sale of products containing CBD is legal and governed by Tennessee Public Chapter 369, which was passed by the legislature and signed into law by Gov. Bill Haslam in 2017.

 

The law makes any topical or ingestible, industrial hemp-derived products legal to sell and possess in Tennessee as long as the products do not exceed a THC threshold of 0.3 percent. 

Hamilton said she and several other defendants have the proper documentation that proves their products were derived from industrial hemp and that they meet the state's THC standard.

She also said the defendants were offered plea deals to resolve the cases quickly. The pleas would require them to forfeit all the cash and products confiscated. They would also be banned from selling CBD products. In exchange, the owners get to reopen their stores, have to serve six months probation and have a chance to have their records expunged after a few years.

"No one has accepted a plea deal and I hope it won't be necessary for anyone to," Hamilton said, adding she plans to fight the charges and defend the business she believes is legal.

Padlocking costs $20K in business

Hamilton and her wife Mary Ruth Hamilton opened Kaleidoscope Custom Vapor Lounge in 2014 "to help people quit smoking," she said.

After Public Chapter 369 was signed into law in 2017, Hamilton decided to start selling industrial hemp-derived cannabidiol because she had personally seen the how the compound can help with a variety of medical issues. Unlike some of the other stores, Hamilton did not sell the gummy candies.

Hamilton said she was at her Memorial Boulevard storefront around 10:30 a.m. when she received a call from an employee at her store on South Church Street. The employee told her the police were at the store, confiscating products containing CBD and demanding her presence at the South Church Street store.

"I was preparing to leave when three officers entered the Memorial location and told me my store was being closed by order of Judge Royce Taylor," Hamilton said. The officers posted a notice on the door, padlocked the store and loaded Hamilton into a paddy wagon to be taken to the Rutherford County Adult Detention Center along with 16 other arrestees, including her wife and business partner Mary Ruth Hamilton.

The same scene was taking place at her South Church Street store as well as 21 other stores across the county.

Hamilton said the officers confiscated more than $5,000 in cash, the cash registered from both stores, all products containing CBD and several vials of tobacco-based e-liquid for use in vaping. In all, the officers took more than 10,000 in cash and products.

She also said she has lost more than $20,000 in revenue from having her stores closed for the week.

 

 

 

The indicted were:

Samy F. Angly, T&B Tobacco and Beer in Murfreesboro, Charged with possessing and selling a schedule VI drug

Ayoob M. Ayoob, Kwik Sak in Smyrna, Charged with possessing and selling a schedule VI drug within 1,000 feet of a preschool

Louis S. Berbert, Enchanted Planet in Murfreesboro, Charged with possessing and selling a schedule VI drug within 1,000 feet of a daycare

Eskaner G. Eskander, Family Market Discount in La Vergne, Charged with possessing and selling a schedule VI drug

Margret Fouad, La Vergne Vapor in La Vergne, Charged with possessing and selling a schedule VI drug within 1,000 feet of a school

Mary Ruth Hamilton, Kaleidoscope Custom Vapor Lounge (S. Church) in Murfreesboro, Charged with possessing and selling a schedule VI drug within 1,000 feet of a daycare

Stacy Hamilton, Kaleidoscope Custom Vapor Lounge on Memorial Boulevard and S. Church Street in Murfreesboro, charged with possessing and selling a schedule VI drug within 1,000 feet of a school

George A. Hanna, One Stop Shop Market, Stop-N- Shop in Smyrna and Stop-N- Shop in Murfreesboro, charged with two counts each possessing and selling a schedule VI drug and one each of possessing and selling a schedule VI drug within 1,000 feet of a school.

Ehab Ezat Malaty, Quick Stop Tobacco and Beer in Murfreesboro, Charged with possessing and selling a schedule VI drug within 1,000 feet of a school

Alaa Mankarious, TN Vape and Smoke in Smyrna, Charged with possessing and selling a schedule VI drug within 1,000 feet of a school

James Swain Rieves, Cloud 9 in Smyrna, Charged with possessing and selling a schedule VI drug within 1,000 feet of a school

Gina and Scotty Ritter, Vapesboro in Mrufreesboro, Charged with possessing and selling a synthetic drug, 5-Fluoro ADB, possessing and selling a schedule VI drug

Michael A. Sewanes, a.k.a, Marcous, 99 Cent Discount Tobacco in Murfreesboro, Charged with possessing and selling a schedule VI drug within 1,000 feet of a school

Fredrick Sublett, Magical Vapors in Smyrna, Charged with selling a schedule VI drug

Marian Tadrous, Discount Tobacco and Beer in La Vergne, Charged with possessing and selling a schedule VI drug


Michelle Willard is a freelance journalist who fills her days with social media marketing, politics, true crime, and taking complaints. You can complain to her on Twitter @MichWillard or by email michelle(at)murfreesborovoice.com.

 

 

Sections: Crime & Safety