Two years ago, Michigan-based cannabis entrepreneur Coty Cecil’s camper van broke down in Milton, West Virginia. As he was awaiting repairs,Cecil was confronted by Milton police at his door. Despite appearing without a warrant, police demanded entry into the camper van. During the subsequent raid, police smashed Cecil’s window and confiscated eight hemp plants.Cecil now faces a 10-year sentence. Meanwhile, Cabell County, which Milton is located in has a development deal with the billion-dollar cannabis company Trulieve, which is expected to build a grow facility in the planned HADCO Business Park, an economic initiative being funded by millions in local taxpayer money. Trulieve was quietly benefitting from tax payer funded subsidies while Cody was sitting in jail. Thanks to previous reporting fromPolice Accountability Reportand the support of viewers, Cecil was able to get his bail reduced and return home.Cecil now returns again toPolice Accountability Reportto discuss his fight against the10-year prison sentence looming over him.Police Accountability Reporthaspreviously investigated use of public fundsin Milton.
Production: Taya Graham, Stephen Janis
Post-Production: Stephen Janis, Cameron Granadino
Transcript
Taya Graham: Hello, my name is Taya Graham, and welcome to the Police Accountability Report.
As I always make clear, this show has a single purpose: holding the politically powerful institution of policing accountable. And to do so, we don’t just focus on the bad behavior of individual cops. Instead, we examine the system that makes bad policing possible.
And today we’re going to show you this shocking footage of an illegal raid by police in West Virginia that has turned into something even worse for the person whose rights were violated. A problematic case, to say the least, that threatens to imprison a man for years for doing something that has been decriminalized across the country but that a local judge may decide warrants separating a young man from his family for years.
But before we get started, I want you watching to know that if you have video evidence of police misconduct, please email it to us privately at par@therealnews.com, or reach out to me on Facebook or Twitter @tayasbaltimore, and we might be able to investigate for you.
And please like, share, and comment on our videos. It helps us get the word out and it can even help our guests. And you know I appreciate your comments. I’ve even started doing a comment of the week to show you all how much I appreciate your thoughts and what a great community we have. All right, we’ve gotten that out of the way.
Now, two years ago we told you a harrowing story about a young man named Coty Cecil. In December of 2022 he got stuck in the small town of Milton, West Virginia, after his camper broke down, so Coty had been paying to stay at a campsite while a faulty brake line was being repaired. But one morning, he awoke to police inexplicably banging on his door. At that moment, despite police surrounding his camper, Coty started live-streaming. Take a look.
[VIDEO CLIP BEGINS]
Coty Cecil: Well, there’s cops all around the RV beating on my door, and I don’t know what for, so they’re going to have to come in and get me. So I figured I’d just lay back and smoke a cigarette and let this progress. A bunch of unmarked cars out there. I’m not answering the door. They can get a warrant and come get me.
[VIDEO CLIP ENDS]
Taya Graham: Now, as you will learn later, Coty has struggled with addiction nearly his entire life, and only when he discovered the benefits of marijuana was he able to break the cycle. And that prompted him to start a growing business in Michigan where pot is legal.
Because of all this he became an evangelist, so to speak, for the benefits of it, which is why I think it’s interesting that Coty takes such a courageous attitude towards the looming police presence outside his door. Let’s listen for a moment as he asked the police why they’re trying to break down his door.
[VIDEO CLIP BEGINS]
Coty Cecil: What is going on?
Police Officer: Open the f*cking door now.
Coty Cecil: I was back there asleep. What is going on?
Police Officer: We have a search warrant. Open the door.
Coty Cecil: I just want to know what is going on.
Police Officer: Open the door [inaudible 00:02:58] …Now or we’re going to pop it.
Coty Cecil: I have no arms or anything. You guys got me scared for my life. Why should I open the door?
Police Officer: Open the door.
Coty Cecil: I’m not doing anything wrong. I’ve been asleep all morning. What’s going on?
Police Officer: [Inaudible 00:03:09] door.
Coty Cecil: I just want to know why.
Police Officer: We’ve got a search warrant.
Coty Cecil: For what?
Police Officer: Open the door.
Coty Cecil: Can I see it?
[VIDEO CLIP ENDS]
Taya Graham: Now, Coty demanded a warrant, which was his right. That’s because while police can search a motor vehicle while it’s being operated on a public road with just probable cause, they need a warrant if it’s on private property.
Still, despite the law affirming his request, police continue to demand he opened the door without one. Let’s watch.
[VIDEO CLIP BEGINS]
Coty Cecil: I will open the door if I can get a copy of my warrant.
Police Officer: We’ll give you one. Open the door.
Coty Cecil: So you’re going to break my stuff violently anyway?
Police Officer: You’re going to get a copy of the warrant. Yeah. Open the door.
Coty Cecil: Look, my hands are right here. All I’m doing is recording this. That’s it.
[VIDEO CLIP ENDS]
Taya Graham: Now, unable to produce the warrant, the police decided to become even more aggressive. Ignoring the law, they upped the ante by resorting to force. Take a look.
[VIDEO CLIP BEGINS]
Police Officer: Open the door.
Coty Cecil: I just don’t understand why and what’s going on.
Police Officer: [Inaudible 00:04:04] the door.
Coty Cecil: I need to have a lawyer present.
Police Officer: You don’t have a lawyer present for a search warrant.
Coty Cecil: For a warrant, why not? This can be done completely peacefully. I just need to see a warrant first. Why are you guys breaking my stuff?
Police Officer: You won’t open the door.
Coty Cecil: I haven’t seen a warrant yet. Right now I look like I’m surrounded by a bunch of wolves trying to attack me.
Police Officer: [Inaudible 00:04:30].
Coty Cecil: Okay, so as soon as I get a warrant, I’ll open the door. What’s the issue? Whoa, whoa.
Police Officer: Open the door.
Coty Cecil: I don’t understand why you guys are being so violent towards me. That’s all.
Police Officer: We’re not being violent.
Coty Cecil: Yes you are. You just smashed my whole window in.
[VIDEO CLIP ENDS]
Taya Graham: That’s right. Police begin breaking the window of Coty’s camper, literally destroying the property that is an invaluable asset for him.
Now, we have a copy of the undated search warrant, which was later given to Coty. It was included in discovery related to the eventual charges against him, and Stephen will have more on that for us later.
But a review of the warrant shows that the entire reason that half of the Milton West Virginia Police Department was pounding on his door was not for drug dealing or some sort of theft or other serious crime, but rather in the pursuit of nature. That is, of eight immature pot plants. A fact that Coty points out.
[VIDEO CLIP BEGINS]
Coty Cecil: All right. Well here we go. This is what they’re after. Just so people know the real truth.
[VIDEO CLIP ENDS]
Taya Graham: But even as Coty continues to ask for a warrant, police respond with more force.
[VIDEO CLIP BEGINS]
Police Officer: We are effecting a search.
Coty Cecil: What kind of a search? Can I get any response at all?
Police Officer: The hell do you got in [inaudible 00:05:57]?
Coty Cecil: It’s a deadbolt. I’ll unlock it.
Police Officer: Unlock it. Unlock it.
Coty Cecil: I want to see a warrant.
Police Officer: Unlock [inaudible 00:06:03] —
Coty Cecil: I want a warrant first. This is my constitutional right to see that I am being searched with a warrant.
Police Officer: You are being searched with a warrant as soon as it gets here.
Coty Cecil: Then I will be sitting right here, not doing anything, trying to comply with the police that are breaking into my home for no apparent reason.
[VIDEO CLIP ENDS]
Taya Graham: Now, Coty decides, I think understandably, to take some edibles to help with the stress of the situation. I mean, the police have yet to answer his request for a warrant and are still trying to break down his door, so he decides again to partake in a natural plant that is legal to consume in 26 states. See for yourself.
[VIDEO CLIP BEGINS]
Coty Cecil: Eat some edibles.
[VIDEO CLIP ENDS]
Taya Graham: Now I just want to pause here and comment briefly on something I think we as Americans overlook when we watch videos like this. That is, despite the protections of the Constitution, the laws of our country have been construed to allow police to use violence over a plant, a thing that grows from the ground as freely and naturally as a weed. Something that is now legal in more than half the country, as I noted, but is still apparently dangerous enough to allow police to break into private property.
It literally makes no sense, and it’s this bizarre legal standard, I think, that causes what happens next. Legal empowerment has obviously affected the police who have been granted it, as we can hear when they reply to Coty’s repeated request for a warrant.
[VIDEO CLIP BEGINS]
Coty Cecil: Why? It sounds like a pride issue. I just want to see a warrant, that’s it, and I will come out. I don’t have nothing in here. I don’t have nothing to hide, but you just beat my door down and you’re trying to make me look like a straight criminal. I don’t know what I did wrong. I’ve been sleeping in my RV since last night. What did I do wrong, officer? Can you explain it?
Police Officer: We’ll explain everything as soon as you open this door.
Coty Cecil: I need a warrant.
Police Officer: I know what you need.
Coty Cecil: See what I’m saying? Why isn’t that my constitutional right?
[VIDEO CLIP ENDS]
Taya Graham: “I know what you need.” Seriously, you, a law enforcement officer tasked with upholding the Constitution, are mocking someone who invokes their rights? Is it funny to you that someone’s home and worldly possessions, basically his entire business, is about to be trashed, seized, and otherwise disposed of? But it actually gets worse, much worse.
[VIDEO CLIP BEGINS]
Police Officer: It is your constitutional right, and we will give you the warrant as soon as it gets here.
Coty Cecil: So you had to break in my door before you gave me it?
Police Officer: The judge has signed it and it is on the way.
Coty Cecil: Okay, so why did you have to break my stuff before I could come out?
Police Officer: ‘Cause you won’t open the door asshole!
Coty Cecil: Because I haven’t seen a warrant.
Police Officer: Fine.
Coty Cecil: I will come out peacefully. My hands are right in your face. I promise I’m doing nothing. I just want to see why and see that this is justified, what you just did to my house.
Police Officer: Just open the door.
Coty Cecil: This is outrageous. I will open the door as soon as I get the warrant. I don’t understand any of this. I’ve been asleep in here since last night. What is the issue? What did I do that caused you guys just so much turmoil to come here and smash my house in? Seriously. What? So you can arrest me and beat my ass for not unlocking the door? No, thank you. I’ve been in this spot before.
Police Officer: You either open it or I’ll smash every f*cking window there is.
Coty Cecil: I know, that’s right.
Police Officer: We’re going to get in.
I don’t care if you’re recording. Open it. I got a search warrant to get in there.
Coty Cecil: For what? What did I do? Can I have my warrant and I’ll come out.
Police Officer: This is not Tennessee, son. Open –
[VIDEO CLIP ENDS]
Taya Graham: “This isn’t Tennessee, son.” I mean, what does that even mean? Is West Virginia post-Constitution? I do think the exchange is revealing, beyond the officer sets. It seems to me that the police are not just mocking his request to protect his rights, but they are using ominous language to intimidate him into opening the door by suggesting that they are not law enforcers, but actually privateers enabled to do just about anything.
Finally, realizing he had little choice, Coty opens the door and the police pounce. Not just one cop, but multiple officers all in pursuit of a couple of plants. Not a violent criminal, not someone who had robbed someone, stolen a car or committed an act of violence. Just a young man using a plant to enrich his life. See for yourself.
[VIDEO CLIP BEGINS]
Coty Cecil: I don’t understand what I did wrong. I feel like you guys are going to hurt me for no reason.
Police Officer: We’re not going to hurt you.
Coty Cecil: Then why have I been in here asleep since last night and now you guys are here to attack me?
Police Officer: Not here to —
Coty Cecil: I haven’t been doing anything wrong. What am I doing wrong?
Police Officer: Open the door.
Coty Cecil: What am I doing wrong?
Police Officer: We’re coming in, asshole.
Coty Cecil: I’m coming out.
Police Officer: Right now.
Coty Cecil: Okay, you guys got me scared for my life, dude.
Police Officer: Right now, unlock the door.
[Inaudible 00:10:55] window.
Coty Cecil: I’m trying to come out. You guys got me scared for my life. Here, I’m coming out. I’m coming out, guys.
Police Officer: Put your cigarette down, let me see that —
Coty Cecil: Okay.
Police Officer: …You understand me?
Coty Cecil: It’s the other way, guys. The other way.
Police Officer: Comes this way.
Coty Cecil: Please. I’ll help you. Don’t break my house. This is all I own.
Police Officer: There’s supposed to be another guy in here.
If there’s anybody else in here, make yourself known.
Coty Cecil: It’s just me. I’m by myself.
Police Officer: Where’s your partner [inaudible 00:11:21].
Coty Cecil: My partner? Who are you talking about?
Police Officer: That’s what he’s doing, he’s in here eating all this sh*t.
Coty Cecil: What are you talking about?
[VIDEO CLIP ENDS]
Taya Graham: That’s right. Cops pick through Coty’s belongings, buoyed by their top-notch investigative skills, behaving like a bunch of unrepentant frat boys basking in the glow of their mercenary bounty. Of course, eventually this collection of Sherlock Holmeses realizes there’s a cell phone running, which prompts him to act. Let’s take a close look at these few moments.
[VIDEO CLIP BEGINS]
Coty Cecil: Big issue dude?
Police Officer: [Inaudible 00:11:49] in here —
Coty Cecil: [Inaudible 00:11:49] Because you guys didn’t even show probable cause or a warrant. [inaudible 00:11:56].
Police Officer: You get all these, dude?
Here we go.
That’s what he was doing. He was in there eating this sh*t.
Yeah, he was eating edibles is what he was f*cking doing, see.
[Inaudible 00:12:07]
[VIDEO CLIP ENDS]
Taya Graham: Now, I can’t read lips, but I think that officer was again expressing his contempt for both Coty and the law. And it’s not really surprising, given what we’ve learned about this police department throughout our investigations over the past few years. It is a fraught set of facts because since then, rather than acknowledging the futility of the raid, prosecutors and police have doubled down.
And for more on what that means and how it will affect his family, we will be joined by Coty and his mom soon. But first, I’m joined by my reporting partner, Stephen Janis, who’s been reaching out to prosecutors for comment and looking into the case itself. Stephen, thank you so much for joining me.
Stephen Janis: Taya, thanks for having me. I appreciate it.
Taya Graham: Now first, you’ve reviewed the warrant and the case file. What are your thoughts?
Stephen Janis: Well, basically it looked like a yard sale sponsored by police, where they’re going to go and just take everything out of your home and load it into the car and drive away with it. They confiscated a vehicle. They confiscated the camper. They confiscated grow materials. They confiscated books, they confiscated checkbooks, they confiscated deposit stamps. It was insane. It was just like they went in there and just took whatever they wanted, and the whole justification was eight plants.
Now, they also confiscated a gun that actually didn’t belong to Coty because he did not own this camper. But they took everything he had all on the basis of eight marijuana plants and a so-called chemical smell. It is one of the worst statements of probable cause I’ve ever read. The warrant, as far as I could see, should have been rejected.
Taya Graham: Now we’ve done a lot of reporting on the Milton West Virginia Police Department. Can you provide some of the background on this department and the problems they’ve had?
Stephen Janis: Well Taya, Milton is a perfect example of over focusing on policing creates bad policy. The Milton Police Department has almost doubled in size in terms of budget over the past four or five years. Meanwhile, they’ve doubled ticket writing and ratcheted up fines. So it really shows you that they’ve incentivized policing in a bad way.
Meanwhile, the town gave a tip or tax increment, finance tax break to Jeff Hoops, who is a failed coal baron who actually took money out of miners paychecks when Blackjewel coal went bankrupt and then gave himself money. It was a terrible, terrible mess.
But meanwhile, he gets a tax cut plus 170 acres in free land that we’re giving him for $20 that belonged to the city. So really these two things go hand in hand, and that’s why the arrest of Coty, the seizing of his property, is really, really suspect.
Taya Graham: Stephen, you’ve reached out to prosecutors and the judge. What are they saying about the case and what sort of prison time is Coty facing?
Stephen Janis: Well, Taya, this is what’s most alarming about the case. Eight pot plants could be 10 years. I’m not kidding. I know you think I’m making this up, but just eight pot plants could be 10 years because this judge apparently is sentencing Coty under Schedule I for marijuana, meaning it’s a very dangerous substance, after the federal government has reduced it to Schedule III.
Now just really set aside for a moment that they’ve been giving a big tax break to a legal grower and this young man could be facing two sentences, which could be served consecutively, not concurrently, meaning at the same time, and be in jail for 10 years for what you saw on camera. Tell me what the crime is. It is really a travesty of justice, and I think everyone has a right to be concerned.
Taya Graham: And now to get a sense of the toll this ordeal has taken on Coty, the risks he is facing out of sentencing, and some of the questionable courtroom statements by the judge, I’m joined by Coty Cecil.
Coty, I just want to say thank you so much for joining me again on the Police Accountability Report. We really appreciate you being here.
Coty Cecil: Absolutely, Taya. I appreciate you guys and everybody at The Real News Network for all the support and all the help.
Taya Graham: So can you just describe for me what we’re seeing in your camper? Suddenly there’s pounding on the door and you pull out your cell phone camera. Can you describe to us what we’re seeing on that cell phone video and what you were thinking at the time?
Coty Cecil: Yeah, so I woke up that morning with loud, aggressive knocks on the door. So then I peeked out my bedroom window and I seen that it was a couple of cops and I thought, well, I don’t feel like answering this. I’m just waking up, so I’m just going to ignore the morning intrusion for the day.
Well, the knocks started getting more aggressive and they weren’t going away. So at this point I took out my phone and I went live, ’cause I was just confused as to why they were there. So the phone and me recording was really just for my self-defense.
Taya Graham: Now, something I noticed in the video was that you were very wise to ask for a warrant before allowing police into your home, your camper. What happened when you asked for that warrant?
Coty Cecil: Well, I was persistent in asking for the warrant. And after about 20 or 30 failed attempts of asking, just show me a warrant and I’ll let you in, and this can be done completely differently. I just want to understand what’s going on. Finally, after about the 30th time or so that I’ve asked, he said, you’ll get a warrant when it gets here.
Taya Graham: So we see the officers break into your camper, they break in and they start to drag you out. Did you even understand what was happening at that time? Did you have any idea of what they were doing? Did they explain anything to you?
Coty Cecil: No, not at all really. Even I didn’t get explained anything to me until I got basically to the police station. And I was just in complete shock, not understanding what was going on. Yeah, I had no clue.
And that’s really all I kept asking for was just a little bit of information on why they’re here and what’s going on. Because at the time I was, after so many times of asking for a warrant and certain things, I was starting to honestly believe if they were even really cops or not. I was trying to do my best to de-escalate the situation and keep everybody calm, and as these guys are just getting more and more aggressive, it just felt completely off.
Taya Graham: So they forcefully drag you out and take you into jail. When the police took you in, what was your bail and what were the charges that they told you at that time?
Coty Cecil: So when I finally got there, they gave me obstruction of justice for recording with my phone, cultivation, distribution with intent, and bringing substances across the state line. And they gave me a cash bond of $100,000.
Taya Graham: So I first learned about your troubles in West Virginia when your mom contacted me. She said, my son was just put in jail for two days before Christmas. He’s been there for a month. And her heart was breaking. What was that like, and what were you thinking during that time in that cell?
Coty Cecil: To be honest, just the way that they were acting like I was a cold-blooded killer, basically. It was such a high bond and I thought everything was over. I didn’t know if I was ever going to make it home.
Taya Graham: Also, let’s take a moment to hear from Coty’s mom, Joni.
Joni: We know that Coty made some bad choices and that he needs to stand accountable for what he did. But I don’t understand. The judge gave him the max sentence on a Schedule I charge.
Taya Graham: It’s okay, take your time. I understand.
Joni: To take him away from his whole family for five years. My mom will probably die while he’s in there. She’s 70-something years old, and that’s her baby.
Taya Graham: Now, we ran your story, and fortunately our community reached out and your bail was lowered, but the past two years you’ve had this hanging over you. What have you done for the past two years? Have you had to travel for court? Has there been any sort of impact on you during the past two years while this has been hanging over your head?
Coty Cecil: So when you guys came in and actually wanted to shed light on the case and the tyranny that was happening, then they decided to actually give me a bond reduction, which wasn’t happening until everything went public thanks to The Real News Network. So they dropped it down to $20,000.
But part of my bond stipulations was I was banned from the state. I was only allowed in the state for court. But upon doing so, when I got released, I got taken immediately up north back home and I didn’t have the resources to go grab the RV. It was broken down. So my RV, my house, my home got taken away and impounded.
By the time after the couple months that I did spend in jail waiting on bond and everything to change, they tried to say it was $6,000, $7,000, $8,000 to get my RV back, which I did not have nothing. I was completely… They took most of my legal business stuff, my legal seeds, my laptop, everything that I owned of value, and completely took me back down to absolutely nothing. I was absolutely nothing, square one.
And so the last couple years have literally just been me rebuilding my bond with my sons. ‘Cause they were upset that I was gone for a couple months, ’cause I was already gone a month prior to that for work. So at that time it was going on four or five months before I could see my sons and then… So it’s been a lot.
I had to rebuild from scratch the last couple years, then going back and forth to court and everything else has just been… It definitely hasn’t been the easiest. So they knew what they were doing when they banned me from the state. I’ll say that.
Taya Graham: One of the charges was cultivation, but you work for a legal marijuana company and you have a medical card. And the federal government has moved marijuana from Schedule I drugs, like heroin, to Schedule III. And West Virginia has had medical marijuana since 2018, and now is even giving millions of dollars in tax breaks to cultivators. Do you have any idea why they’re coming down so hard on you?
Coty Cecil: Well, and I’m just going to say that this is my personal opinion, ’cause I know we all have in the cannabis community, we all have our regards towards officials and their position and role they play. But in my professional opinion, I truly believe it’s because I’m not buying sets of golf clubs for these officials, and I’m not pushing my funds towards their political agenda, and I’m not donating to their political parties, and I’m not buying lunches and pizzas and everything else.
I don’t have the big bank accounts backing me, which would in turn back them, so therefore I’m null and void. Which honestly, in more retrospect from a business standpoint, I’m in the way.
Taya Graham: Now, I just want to make sure people realize this. Some seem to think you were there possibly to distribute seven or eight little hemp plants and 10 to 15 grams of bud, but you actually had no interest in being in West Virginia. You were just traveling through.
Coty Cecil: So after the couple years and rebuilding and everything and the publicity that came to the case, I know that Milton had some troubles after me with the way that the police force was working thanks to The Real News Network shedding light on another case. And they were allowing me to stay out of state.
And then the public defenders, which I was using throughout this, trying to save resources for the fam and still rebuilding resources of my own, I had to use the public defenders. They was more leaning towards the fact that they just want to get through this as much as I do, that the state just wants to make sure that, in my opinion — Again, this is in my opinion — That they just want to make sure some charges stick so that I have no chances of suing the state and going back after them, but also keep it to where they can put me on probation and send me home.
And they dropped a couple charges, and they were just the charges of cultivation and the charges of possession with intent to deliver. And I was under the impression, because the leniency that he showed allowing me to be free and home, that I was going to ultimately end up possibly more than likely with probation at home so that I could definitely showcase that I’m not a bad person and not doing these things, but still get the case onward and out of their dockets. And so it’s one to five [years] on each.
And I went back to court, and like I said, I guess I was naive in the fact of thinking they’re just wanting to get through this as much as I was and just get it over with and move on with their lives. And that wasn’t the case.
He completely disregarded the rest of the possible sentencing guidelines and he gave me the most severe, and he gave me one to five in prison on the cultivation. I go back July 2, 9:00 AM for the final sentencing and the other charges sentencing, the possession with intent to deliver, and that is possibly up to another one to five. So he has to decide if I’m going to get one to five on each and run them concurrently or consecutively on the next sentencing.
Taya Graham: I have to admit, I just don’t understand why a judge would want to pursue this. I see a young man who has been clean for years, who has a family, two children with special needs, and he actually wants to help people with medical marijuana because you believe in it as a real healing medicine. Does this judge see you as some kind of dealer? Does he see the fact that you believe in marijuana as a medical drug as lack of remorse? What has this judge said to you? What have you heard?
Coty Cecil: Yeah, at the time of this, Virginia was just becoming recreationally legal and legal in their own rights. And my family I had in Virginia was looking for consulting and help in agricultural realms and help producing their own medicine and becoming sustainable in their own medicine.
So I was down in Virginia and I was trying to help — Not trying to, I was starting legal businesses and consulting and trying to navigate my way into legality through Virginia, as I’ve already been in Michigan. So I was down there for about a month and a half helping people and getting public relations started and certain things.
And then about a month and a half into that, I was like, okay, I got to go home and visit my family and visit my sons. So I was driving back up to Michigan through West Virginia and my brake lines blew, so I pulled over and got a campground. And when I got the campground, that happened about a week or so later. I truly don’t believe this would’ve happened if my RV wouldn’t have broke down.
Taya Graham: Now something that I think is very important is how your family is dealing with what you’re facing and how you are handling it. Whether or not this is concurrent time or consecutive, this is a lot of time, especially to be away from small children. And it’s potentially so much time for a crime that is not a crime in the rest of the country. How is your family handling this?
Coty Cecil: Well, I think that we were a little naive in the fact that we were thinking that the country was going to be a little bit more, the judge or anybody in the country would be a little bit more understanding towards the cannabis thing. And I was absolutely thinking, yes, he’s going to make me go home and be on probation. I want to see that he’s doing good and he’s wanting to do the right things, but I don’t think that my family realized how severe the outcome could possibly be.
And so we went to court and then all these things came out on his end and he let his views be known on how he feels about the cannabis space. I just don’t think that he’s pro-cannabis at all. He told me, he said, you don’t think there’s anything wrong in what you do and what you’re doing? He said, you’re just going to go back home and continue to grow cannabis and do what you’re doing up there and think that nothing you’re doing is wrong and okay?
And then he went a little further and he said, I’ve read a lot of character letters from you, and others might see you as a good man, but our views on what a good man is are completely different.
Taya Graham: I want to do something a little different today. Usually I use the example of a bad arrest to make a point about a broader problem with policing that affects the entire country. But in this case, what is happening in Milton is just such a perfect example of the essence of the idea that bad policing leads to other government miscues.
So I want to drill down into the story still unfolding in the small West Virginia community to make a point, and I want to start with a press release from HADCO, or the Huntington Area Development Council. This organization touts itself as the driving force behind the economic growth in the area surrounding Milton. In a press release, the organization touts the finalizing of a deal between Cabell County, where Coty was arrested, and a cannabis growing company called Trulieve. The deal would allow the firm to build a grow facility there.
The deal includes the use of land and facilities of the so-called Hadco Business Park. What is the Hadco Business Park? Well, it’s a taxpayer-funded facility designed to lure businesses to West Virginia. What they will be doing at the grow site, according to the same press release, is exactly what Coty was arrested for: growing marijuana for medical use.
And Hadco was not just celebrating this fact, it was touting their commitment to medical cannabis and putting it at the forefront of a new economy. Let me just read a quote: “This project will provide good paying jobs for our residents and will place Huntington West Virginia at the forefront of a rapidly growing cannabis industry in West Virginia.”
Okay, I’m really trying to unpack this idea. Why is pot a godsend for the county and legally supported with actual government tax breaks for one set of people and totally illegal and warranting jail time for another? What makes it okay for a huge corporation to grow pot for profit while the cops can seize the property of another growing company and never return it? Would you like to take a guess?
But let’s not stop there at assessing the idea of what makes a criminal in Cabell County versus a hero of capitalism. Now, remember Stephen mentioning the deal to build the Grand Petition Hotel in Milton? As he pointed out, the recipient of the communal largess was one Jeff Hoops.
Hoops is the notorious failed coal baron who clawed back the paychecks of miners around the country. The ensuing economic calamity caused incalculable pain for working people and left a trail of environmental devastation for which he has not been held accountable. Even the company he bankrupted, Blackjewel coal, sued him for fraudulent transfers for allegedly shifting millions of dollars, equipment, property, mining permits, inventory, and assets into his own family belongings.
But that didn’t stop Cabell County from awarding the aforementioned $15 million TIF to Hoops to build the Grand Petition Hotel. And — Wait for it — In 2018, the project, as Stephen noted, was supposed to be an expansive and economic boon to the area, so much so that the city of Milton turned over 170 acres of city-owned land for just $20. The hotel itself was projected to be opened in 2020. However, as this video we found on YouTube shows, the structure itself hardly seems close to being finished.
But of course, a big question I’m sure you’re asking is, Taya, how does this all fit together? What does a hotel, and ganja growing, and a cannabis crusader say about the state of American law enforcement and the role it plays in working-class communities across rural America?
Well, think of it this way. As Socrates noted in Plato’s seminal work, Republic, one of the most important questions facing any society or civil government is the fundamental notion of justice. Or in short, can a society be just, and if so, what constitutes a just society?
In other words, is the government fair to people who are governed? And does this fairness equate to better lives, open opportunity, and the type of social equilibrium in which anyone can thrive?
This is, of course, a vexing question bereft of easy answers. It would literally be oversimplifying the entire concept if I said I could answer what this looks like and how it could be implemented in the world we live in now.
However, I think pretty clearly I know what does not constitute a just society. And I think that rendering can be found in Cabell County. Let me lay it out in simple terms. Growing eight plants in your private camper is a crime punishable by 10 years in prison. Asking taxpayers to fund your billion-dollar business to exploit a plant derived from nature and yet restricted by law for some is heroic.
Trying to cure your addictions by spreading your love for a plant that some would say has practically magical healing powers? Oh, that’s a crime that requires the seizing of all your hard-earned assets, cleaning out the bank accounts of innocent coal miners while you pay yourself millions — Which, incidentally, was alleged in a series of lawsuits against Jeff Hoops.
Well, that noteworthy behavior will earn you free land and millions in taxpayer assistance. Sitting in your camper, minding your own business, waiting for it to be fixed warrants a full-on raid by law enforcement. Not building a hotel or explaining why it’s taking so long to do so even with mounting taxpayer assistance — Well, that’s just great business.
And if you’re interested if the hotel will open anytime soon, take another look at this video of the state of construction posted last month. Doesn’t look great at the moment.
The point is, as we have witnessed time and time again on the show, the difference in this country between criminals and upstanding citizens is not always measured by their deeds. Rather, it seems we equate personal morality with the weight of their bank accounts. Too often what dictates a crime is not the impact it has on all of us, but rather the social, capital, and political connections of the perpetrator.
How else can you explain the county of Cabell, West Virginia, where a giant corporation can grow all the weed it wants while Coty is being stripped of his last dollar and his rights for a few plants? How else are they supposed to accept the legal justification for giving free public land to a disgraced coal magnate versus seizing the property of a man who grew eight plants for his own use?
Truthfully, the case, as it has unfolded, proves an unfortunate and troubling point about both our laws and how they’re enforced: They protect the powerful and afflict the powerless. They bolster the rich and burden the poor. They shower the already wealthy with largess and strip the struggling of their meager wealth. They bolster the riches of the richest while caging the working class for trying to better themselves.
It’s a social imbalance that I think fully answers Socrates’s simple question: is a society just? Well in Cabell County, if Coty Cecil goes to prison, I think we all know the answer.
I’d like to thank my guest, Coty Cecil, for speaking with us, and we wish him and his family the very best during this difficult time. Thank you so much, Coty. And of course, I have to thank intrepid reporter Stephen Janis for his writing, research, and editing on this piece. Thank you, Stephen
Stephen Janis: Taya, thanks for having me. I appreciate it.
Taya Graham: And I want to thank mods of the show, Noli D and Lacey R for their support. Thank you. And a very special thanks to our Accountability Report Patreons. We appreciate you, and I look forward to thanking each and every one of you personally in our next live stream, especially Patreon associate producers John E.R., David K, Louis P, Lucia, Garcia, and my super friends, Shane B, Kenneth K, Pineapple Girl, Matter of Rights, and Chris R.
And I want you watching to know that if you have video evidence of police misconduct or brutality, please share it with us and we might be able to investigate for you. Please reach out to us. You can email us tips privately at par@therealnews.com and share your evidence of police misconduct. You can also message us at Police Accountability Report on Facebook or Instagram, or @eyesonpolice on Twitter. And of course, you can always message me directly @tayasbaltimore on Twitter or Facebook.
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My name is Taya Graham, and I’m your host of the Police Accountability Report. Please be safe out there.
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