Photo: Courtesy of stltoday.com.
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) – A Missouri lobbyist was released from jail while he awaits trial on charges that he participated in a marijuana distribution ring.
ABC17News reports a judge allowed Eapen Thampy to be freed after a federal
court hearing Wednesday in Jefferson City. Magistrate Judge Willie Epps approved the release after prosecutors withdrew their request to keep Thampy detained until trial, which is tentatively set for August.
Thampy is one of nine people charged in the alleged conspiracy to sell
marijuana in Missouri. Thampy is specifically accused of working with a
co-defendant in Oregon to sell marijuana in February 2018.
Thampy is a lobbyist in Jefferson City for 14 groups, many of them related to the cannabis business.
His attorneys, Michael Belancio and Shawn Lee, declined to comment after the hearing.
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