John Wesley Walker, the alleged mastermind behind what a federal prosecutor claims was a massive and illegal medical marijuana operation in Southern California, won a victory of sorts this month.
Assistant United States Attorney Christine Bautista wanted $200,000 post-arrest bail to be revoked for Walker while keeping her reasoning secret from the public and, of course, Walker and his defense lawyer objected to the confinement proposal.
Federal judge James V. Selna heard the arguments in secret and then issued a ruling.
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Selna is allowing Walker, 56, to remain free but increased the bail to $500,000.
And we can now reasonably speculate on Bautista's detention demand because on Dec. 7 Selna also ordered Walker (AKA “Pops”) to refrain from contacting any of the other defendants.
In October, authorities announced a federal grand jury indictment against Walker and 13 other individuals in Orange and Los Angeles counties: Ryan Scott Hunt, Perry Brooks Forehand, Danielle Pamela Stebel, Nicholas Martin Butier, Sierra Marina Serhan, Alvin Wesley Walker, John Eugene Scandalios, Karen Lee Leto, Craig Lawrence Leto, Michael Alan Nixon, Alan David Nixon, Ryan Aparicio Mondragon and Nicholas Einar Lattu.
Walker reportedly controlled at least nine medical marijuana sales shops.
CNN-featured investigative reporter R. Scott Moxley has won Journalist of the Year honors at the Los Angeles Press Club; been named Distinguished Journalist of the Year by the LA Society of Professional Journalists; obtained one of the last exclusive prison interviews with Charles Manson disciple Susan Atkins; won inclusion in Jeffrey Toobin’s The Best American Crime Reporting for his coverage of a white supremacist’s senseless murder of a beloved Vietnamese refugee; launched multi-year probes that resulted in the FBI arrests and convictions of the top three ranking members of the Orange County Sheriff’s Department; and gained praise from New York Times Magazine writers for his “herculean job” exposing entrenched Southern California law enforcement corruption.
