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Key figures in the fight against marijuana corruption in Michigan released early from prison

Two central figures convicted of bribing former Michigan House Speaker Rick Johnson in the largest public corruption scandal to hit Michigan's capital in 30 years have been released from federal prison after serving less than half their sentences — and Johnson could soon follow them.

Marijuana industry lobbyist Vince Brown walked out of a low-security prison in western Pennsylvania on Aug. 6, three weeks after Oakland County businessman John Dawood Dalaly was released from a minimum-security labor camp in West Virginia.

Brown served less than nine months of a 20-month sentence for conspiring to bribe Johnson, the former chairman of the Michigan Medical Marijuana Licensing Board, while Dalaly was released on humanitarian grounds less than nine months after beginning a 28-month sentence for bribing Johnson.

The actions raise questions about whether justice was done in a high-profile public corruption case centered on the payment of bribes to the state's top regulator as companies sought a competitive advantage at the start of Michigan's marijuana industry.

“This really doesn't look like justice,” said Matthew Abel, a Detroit criminal defense attorney who specializes in marijuana cases. “The consequences of these unlawful actions are still being felt.”

A spokesman for the Federal Bureau of Prisons declined to explain why Brown was released from prison. But the release of two people involved in a high-profile bribery scandal continues a trend of metro Detroit businessmen, union leaders and politicians being released early from federal prisons after being convicted of public corruption.

On Wednesday, Johnson, 71, a Republican from LeRoy, asked a federal judge to release him from prison, citing various health problems.

Johnson had asked for his release from a minimum-security federal prison in Minnesota after serving less than nine months of a 55-month sentence. He was convicted last fall of accepting $110,200 in bribes and what U.S. District Judge Jane Beckering called “unrestrained abuse of power.”

He is expected to remain in prison until August 2027.

The ruling concluded a years-long investigation into Johnson's work as chairman of the state's medical marijuana licensing board. Johnson, a fellow Republican, was nominated by then-Senate Majority Leader Arlan Meekhof and appointed by then-Governor Rick Snyder. He chaired the state's medical marijuana licensing board from May 2017 to April 2019. His panel had the power to influence regulation and decide which companies were allowed to enter the market first.

Beckering said Johnson took advantage of his position to collect cash payments for himself, enjoy free meals and satisfy his own sexual desires. The judge said Johnson accepted at least 42 bribes over 20 months, including cash payments ranging from $1,000 to $20,000 and the services of a prostitute who called him “Batman.”

Johnson's request for humanitarian release portrayed him as a sick man. He asked the Minnesota prison warden for humanitarian release in February, citing a list of illnesses including heart problems. The warden refused, saying Johnson had only served 4% of his sentence.

“Although you suffer from an illness, it is neither incurable nor disabling,” the prison warden wrote.

Johnson then asked the judge for his release on humanitarian grounds.

Federal judges can reduce an inmate's sentence and grant humanitarian release for “extraordinary and compelling reasons” after prison wardens deny or ignore requests. Nationwide, federal judges have granted humanitarian release to more than 5,310 people since fall 2019.

Chances of early release of former speakers

Johnson faces slim chances of going home, as federal judges in western Michigan have released only 13, or three percent, of the 410 inmates who requested humanitarian release since the Covid-19 pandemic began.

There are 94 federal judicial districts nationwide, and judges in the Western District of Michigan, where Johnson's case was heard, denied 96% of all requests for humanitarian release from 2020 to 2022. That denial rate was exceeded only by district courts in four other states – Arkansas, Georgia, Oklahoma and Texas – according to the U.S. Sentencing Commission.

In western Michigan, there has been a “serious lack of compassion in sentencing and humanitarian release,” said Birmingham-based criminal defense attorney Wade Fink.

“Overall, I think it's a good thing that there is a safety valve that allows courts to decide when there are extraordinary and compelling circumstances to release someone from prison,” Fink said.

“I don't think people should look at this as if someone hasn't served their sentence enough or as if it somehow suggests that you're too lenient with people,” Fink said. “Oftentimes the headlines miss some of the underlying factors that you would never know about, like a person's terminal health condition or the need to care for a young child who had no other caregiver.”

The marijuana scandal resulted in four convictions last year, including that of 46-year-old Lansing lobbyist Brian Pierce, who was sentenced to two years in prison and is serving a term of two years in a medium-security prison in Pennsylvania until May 2025, according to prison records.

Brown and Dalaly must serve two years of court-supervised prison time, but it is unclear whether Brown, 34, has been transferred to a halfway house in Detroit or released under house arrest.

Why ex-lobbyist left early

In a brief interview Thursday, Brown said he was released after receiving credits for his good behavior in prison and through the First Step Act, a federal law that takes into account several factors, including an inmate's age, overall health and lack of a criminal record. Inmates with good behavior in prison can get 54 fewer days for each year of their sentence, be sent to a halfway house six months early and receive credit for time spent in custody before their sentencing.

Under the First Step Act, inmates can earn 15 days off for every 30 days of prison work or participation in other programs.

Brown, who said he is busy managing his real estate portfolio, said the criminal case focuses on a small part of his career, when he was a young lobbyist before opening his own firm.

“I ran my own company for six years. And that was not part of the investigation at all,” Brown said. “I feel like mistakes were made in my youth and in the wrong partnerships, and that cast a big shadow over the good company I ran for six years.”

At least 14 people convicted of corruption in recent years have been released early. They include Detroit City Council member Andre Spivey, Macomb County District Attorney Eric Smith and former United Auto Workers union presidents Gary Jones and Dennis Williams, according to a database compiled by The Detroit News. In early 2021, President Donald Trump commuted former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick's 28-year prison sentence to a shorter term, 16 years before Kilpatrick was scheduled to be released from prison for running a criminal enterprise from City Hall.

Mark Totten, the US attorney for the Western District of Michigan, called corruption on Thursday “poison to any democracy.”

“My team and I have asked the court to sentence Rick Johnson and the other defendants involved in this bribery scheme to lengthy prison terms,” ​​Totten said in a statement to The News. “We are determined to find and hold accountable anyone who corrupts our democratic process. And because we have the power to do so, we will work to ensure these perpetrators receive the punishment they deserve.”

Release won on humanitarian grounds

In early July, Dalaly, 72, was granted humanitarian release. The West Bloomfield businessman, who was convicted of paying Johnson at least $68,200 in cash and welfare payments, was released after suffering worsening back problems and undergoing spinal surgery.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Christopher O'Connor fought the request for humanitarian release, writing in a court document that “public corruption strikes at the heart of our democracy.”

“Dalaly should be required to serve the full prison sentence imposed by this court…” he wrote.

Judge Beckering referred to Daly's health problems and concluded that the businessman was not dangerous and had been deterred from committing new crimes.

“Dalaly has demonstrated that his release is justified so that he can receive medical care outside of prison,” she wrote.

Dalaly is the first person in two years to be released on humanitarian grounds by a federal judge in western Michigan. Johnson wants to be the second.

His inquiry revealed that his health had “deteriorated significantly” and that he had already been hospitalized three times.

In a letter of support, his daughter Theresa Davenport of Reed City wrote: “Not only are there no doctors available to meet his medical needs, but his prescriptions are not being filled.”

Johnson also receives support from the sheriff of his hometown.

“While I understand the seriousness of the circumstances that led to his incarceration, I believe he has shown sincere remorse for his actions and has taken significant steps toward rehabilitation during the time he has served,” Osceola County Sheriff Mark Cool wrote.

The request is Johnson's latest attempt to leave prison early.

In April, Beckering said Johnson did not deserve to escape prison because sentences can be reduced retroactively. The judge noted that Johnson had already benefited from shorter sentences before his September sentencing, ending a prosecution that some wished had brought a full public exposure of the marijuana industry's malpractice.

“Johnson never came clean and said what really happened here,” said Abel, the marijuana industry attorney. “He single-handedly perverted the industry. People in the community still want to know which companies were favored.”

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@robertsnellnews

Craig Mauger contributed

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