Santa Ana Mayor Ordered Raid on Pot Shop After Accepting Bribe

No different than a drug cartel boss, Santa Ana Mayor Miguel Pulido ordered police officers to shut down medical marijuana dispensaries in order to benefit the competing dispensaries that were filling his pockets with cash, according to a federal lawsuit filed in California Monday.

The lawsuit highlights [__the raid caught on video__](http://photographyisnotacrime.com/2015/06/video-shows-california-cops-raiding-pot-shop-destroying-cameras-eating-edibles-mocking-amputee-patient/) showing cops breaking into the Sky High Holistic dispensary using a battering ram, then entering the shop wearing masks and wielding guns, ordering patients and employees to lie on the floor before destroying surveillance cameras.

Little did they know they had failed to remove all the cameras, which captured cops mocking a female amputee, eating marijuana edibles and laughing it up in a disgusting display of arrogance and thuggery.

The video, posted below, went viral last week, prompting Pulido to claim he was “very unhappy with what I saw.”

But now the lawsuit contends the thuggery came straight from him, accusing the mayor of conspiring with police, city officials and medical marijuana companies to create an “enforcement program,” which required the companies to pay $25,000 to participate in a lottery program regulating the number of permits issued.

Essentially, protection money.

Pulido, who won his 11th term in November [__with the help of a convicted killer__](http://voiceofoc.org/2015/02/convicted-killer-was-santa-ana-mayors-campaign-consultant/) as a campaign consultant, is also accused of accepting “limousine services, expensive dinners and shows, currency and gifts from individuals and entities seeking to establish control over the Santa Ana marijuana market.”

Pulido told the [__Orange County Register__](http://www.ocregister.com/articles/city-666830-santa-pulido.html) the allegations were “unequivocally and categorically false” and “preposterous.”

But Long Beach attorney Matthew Pappas has apparently done his homework, saying in a press conference Monday that he has “witness proof” and “paper evidence” that back up his claims, all which will be revealed in the trial.

The lawsuit [__can be read here__](http://photographyisnotacrime.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/Santa-Ana-medical-marijuana-raid-lawsuit.pdf) with excerpts posted below.

![](https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/maven-user-photos/pinacnews/courtroom-files/LhlGTxQVnU-jb5b_cF6-uA/3sOXo9ImGUufX3Q1_opbcw)

![](https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/maven-user-photos/pinacnews/courtroom-files/LhlGTxQVnU-jb5b_cF6-uA/C0Grf5wGZUmfGHS8kQ6hBA)

![](https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/maven-user-photos/pinacnews/courtroom-files/LhlGTxQVnU-jb5b_cF6-uA/MFFKFi4n2EqrPfojgeTuVA)

**UPDATE:** Los Angeles photographer Shawn Nee tweeted the Santa Ana Police Department about the drug raid and was immediately blocked, which raises censorship issues considering it is a government agency. Also, last month, Pulido [__paid $13,000 in fines__](http://www.ocregister.com/articles/santa-661310-mayor-fines.html) over a shady land deal with a city contractor.

Tweet them at [__@SantaAnaPD.__](https://twitter.com/santaanapd)

![](https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/maven-user-photos/pinacnews/courtroom-files/LhlGTxQVnU-jb5b_cF6-uA/BWBtFF6fyEeRijsn9R9QVA)

No different than a drug cartel boss, Santa Ana Mayor Miguel Pulido ordered police officers to shut down medical marijuana dispensaries in order to benefit the competing dispensaries that were filling his pockets with cash, according to a federal lawsuit filed in California Monday.

The lawsuit highlights [__the raid caught on video__](http://photographyisnotacrime.com/2015/06/video-shows-california-cops-raiding-pot-shop-destroying-cameras-eating-edibles-mocking-amputee-patient/) showing cops breaking into the Sky High Holistic dispensary using a battering ram, then entering the shop wearing masks and wielding guns, ordering patients and employees to lie on the floor before destroying surveillance cameras.

Little did they know they had failed to remove all the cameras, which captured cops mocking a female amputee, eating marijuana edibles and laughing it up in a disgusting display of arrogance and thuggery.

The video, posted below, went viral last week, prompting Pulido to claim he was “very unhappy with what I saw.”

But now the lawsuit contends the thuggery came straight from him, accusing the mayor of conspiring with police, city officials and medical marijuana companies to create an “enforcement program,” which required the companies to pay $25,000 to participate in a lottery program regulating the number of permits issued.

Essentially, protection money.

Pulido, who won his 11th term in November [__with the help of a convicted killer__](http://voiceofoc.org/2015/02/convicted-killer-was-santa-ana-mayors-campaign-consultant/) as a campaign consultant, is also accused of accepting “limousine services, expensive dinners and shows, currency and gifts from individuals and entities seeking to establish control over the Santa Ana marijuana market.”

Pulido told the [__Orange County Register__](http://www.ocregister.com/articles/city-666830-santa-pulido.html) the allegations were “unequivocally and categorically false” and “preposterous.”

But Long Beach attorney Matthew Pappas has apparently done his homework, saying in a press conference Monday that he has “witness proof” and “paper evidence” that back up his claims, all which will be revealed in the trial.

The lawsuit [__can be read here__](http://photographyisnotacrime.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/Santa-Ana-medical-marijuana-raid-lawsuit.pdf) with excerpts posted below.

![](https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/maven-user-photos/pinacnews/courtroom-files/LhlGTxQVnU-jb5b_cF6-uA/3sOXo9ImGUufX3Q1_opbcw)

![](https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/maven-user-photos/pinacnews/courtroom-files/LhlGTxQVnU-jb5b_cF6-uA/C0Grf5wGZUmfGHS8kQ6hBA)

![](https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/maven-user-photos/pinacnews/courtroom-files/LhlGTxQVnU-jb5b_cF6-uA/MFFKFi4n2EqrPfojgeTuVA)

**UPDATE:** Los Angeles photographer Shawn Nee tweeted the Santa Ana Police Department about the drug raid and was immediately blocked, which raises censorship issues considering it is a government agency. Also, last month, Pulido [__paid $13,000 in fines__](http://www.ocregister.com/articles/santa-661310-mayor-fines.html) over a shady land deal with a city contractor.

Tweet them at [__@SantaAnaPD.__](https://twitter.com/santaanapd)

![](https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/maven-user-photos/pinacnews/courtroom-files/LhlGTxQVnU-jb5b_cF6-uA/BWBtFF6fyEeRijsn9R9QVA)

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Carlos Miller
Carlos Millerhttps://pinacnews.com
Editor-in-Chief Carlos Miller spent a decade covering the cop beat for various newspapers in the Southwest before returning to his hometown Miami and launching Photography is Not a Crime aka PINAC News in 2007. He also published a book, The Citizen Journalist's Photography Handbook, which is available on Amazon.

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