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Pot Advocates in Messy Divorce
By Hempology | January 1, 2007
Patriquen Fined In 2005, Stephen Faces Proceeds-Of-Crime Trial
Talk about a buzz killer.
Two high-profile marijuana advocates were in Nova Scotia Supreme Court on Friday fighting over a piece of land in Middle Sackville.
Michael Patriquen and Melanie Stephen are in the process of getting a divorce, but he had also launched a civil suit against her, trying to prevent the sale of the Orchard Drive building lot she bought a few years after they were married in Jamaica in 1982.
“I’m going to strike down the proceedings in this court . . . on the basis that it does constitute an abuse of process,” Justice John Murphy said Friday.
“It’s tying up court time. It’s bringing people into court unnecessarily.”
The court’s family division is “well into” the process of dividing the couple’s assets, the judge said.
Outside the courtroom, Mr. Patriquen said he’s no longer actively pushing to reform pot laws.
He founded Nova Scotia’s now-defunct Marijuana party and ran, along with his wife, in the 2003 provincial election.
“I’m out of the trenches, so to speak, and I have been for a few years,” said Mr. Patriquen, on parole for conspiring to traffic marijuana.
“I just try to maintain a quiet lifestyle.”
The 53-year-old Middle Sackville man was sentenced in 2002 to six years in prison after he pleaded guilty to conspiring to possess and traffic marijuana in Nova Scotia and Newfoundland between 1999 and 2000. He was responsible for organizing several large-scale marijuana-growing operations in Nova Scotia and trafficking in Newfoundland.
Mr. Patriquen, on parole since 2004, suffers from chronic back pain stemming from injuries in a 1999 motor vehicle accident and has hepatitis C, which he alleges he contracted while in prison.
He has a Health Canada permit to grow his own marijuana for medical use.
“It keeps me going through the day.”
Ms. Stephen is scheduled for trial in Nova Scotia Supreme Court in Halifax on Feb. 12 on proceeds-of-crime charges.
“It’s going to be a nightmare,” she said Friday outside court.
Ms. Stephen said she learned recently Mr. Patriquen will testify against her at the February trial.
“According to him now, I made him sell drugs,” she said. “I can’t roll a joint, but I made him sell drugs.”
Ms. Stephen said she hasn’t spent any time with their 14-year-old daughter since June, when the couple went their separate ways.
While she realizes a judge can’t compel her daughter to see her, she said her heart and door are still open.
The 51-year-old also hasn’t seen much of their 24-year-old son since June. “He’ll send me a nasty text message every once in a while.”
Ms. Stephen plans to return to politics some day.
“As soon as all my hooey is over, I’m going to join the Liberal party,” she said.
Mr. Patriquen’s court battles haven’t ended since his release from jail in 2004. In January of 2005, he was given two years to pay a $258,427 fine ordered by a Nova Scotia Supreme Court judge for possessing the proceeds of crime.
In June of 2005, Mr. Patriquen was also fined $12,013 after pleading guilty to evading $24,026 in federal income taxes on unreported business income.
A Canadian Revenue Agency investigation revealed he intended to avoid paying taxes by not reporting more than $99,000 in income earned through illegal drug operations during the 1998 taxation year.
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