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 Msg  : #522 [119]                          Pvt                                 
 From : carlolsen@dsmnet.com                1:1/31          Wed 10 Aug 94 01:53 
 To   : michael hesse                       1:375/48        Thu 11 Aug 94 20:26 
 Subj : Coptic gets 35 years                                                    

From: carlolsen@dsmnet.com (Carl E. Olsen)

Coptic priest given 35-year sentence for conspiring to smuggle marijuana
Catherine McNaught
The News Herald
  At times during his trial in April, James Tranmer could not
contain his contempt for the testimony that convicted him of conspiring
to import thousands of pounds of marijuana into Panama City.  At his
sentencing Tuesday, he said his piece, heedless of the consequences.
  The 35-year sentence U.S. District Judge Lacey Collier gave him
might have been shorter, his attorney later said, had Tranmer bitten his
tongue.  But Tranmer told Collier he'll be happy to serve every one of
the 12,775 days in support of his religious beliefs.
  "I'm an herb man, I've always been an herb man for more than 30
years," said Tranmer, reading glasses perched on the end of his nose,
shoulder length gray hair combed straight back, looking like someone's
hip grandfather.
  "The herb is a sacrament: ganja is my sacrament ... America is a
sick nation spiritually ... you cannot win this fight against marijuana.
If you fight against the herb, you fight against creation."
  Tranmer, a priest in the Ethiopian Zion Coptic church, told
Collier in a voice shaking with anger and conviction, "I will take
anything you give me for ganja.  You can't take ganja away from the
people.  Ganja is what is given by God for the people, and you can't
take that away from them."
  Tranmer's wife testified at the trial that members of the
Ethiopian Zion Coptic Church use marijuana as a sacrament, but expert
testimony on the religion was not allowed.
  A 12-member jury convicted Tranmer and Eden Churchill Chin April
24 of conspiracy to import marijuana.  Last minute maneuvering Tuesday
by Tranmer's attorney, Assistant U.S. Defender Rod Vereen, saved Tranmer
from receiving a life sentence.
  At issue was the amount of marijuana Tranmer knew his son was
planning to smuggle into the U.S.  Vereen said Tranmer thought the load
would be 2,000 pounds.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Bruce Lowe said Tranmer
was in on the decision to up the stakes to 5,000 pounds.
  But when all the transcripts of testimony during the three-day
trial were transcribed and reviewed, nowhere to be found was testimony
that Tranmer knew anything about the 3,000-pound increase.  That made
the difference between 35 years and life in the federal sentencing
guidelines.
  "The irony of it is 420 months is a long time, but it's better
than life," Vereen said of his 50-something client.
  When asked if Tranmer considered the sentence religious
persecution, Vereen said only, "Yeah, he thinks it is."
  Tranmer and Chin were convicted of masterminding and
bank-rolling Brian Tranmer's maiden marijuana smuggling passage to
Jamaica, where the younger Tranmer was reared.
  The issue of religion was not allowed at trial, but Vereen says
he'll be filing an appeal and a motion for a new trial because of newly
discovered evidence.
  One of the women aboard the ship testified that Tranmer wired
his son several thousand dollars when the smuggling vessel needed
repairs, but a wire receipt shows Tranmer was not the one who sent the
money.
  Vereen also said he intends to include insufficient evidence, an
inconsistent verdict and perjured testimony as grounds for appeal.
  "They say the punishment should fit the crime, but I don't know
about this one," Vereen said before leaving the courthouse.

  Panama City News Herald, Wednesday, July 27, 1994, Page 1D.

Coptic priest
  The July 27 News Herald story of "Coptic Priest," Jim Tranmer,
should be an inspiration to all of us, especially our children.  I have
heard a lot about the Reefer Madness type of inaccurate information
about cannabis being spread through our public schools by groups like
DARE and PRIDE.  Most young people are wise enough to at least consider
why someone would "gladly" go to prison for 35 years in defense of a
plant they believed was a gift from God.  Only the more stubborn adults
will continue to ignore the obvious truth that Jim spoke so eloquently
when he warned that America cannot win a war against creation.  Perhaps
instead of "turning in" their parents, friends and family, the kids will
get the message this time.  Any good Bible student could easily inform
the "Drug Task Force" that the real "source" of all that "marijuana" is
revealed in the story of creation in the first chapter of Genesis at
Verse 29.
  Robert Lawrence
  Fountain, Florida
  Panama City News Herald, Sunday, July 30, 1994.

House: Tribes can use peyote in religion
  Washington, D.C. (AP) -- The House on Monday approved a bill
protecting the religious use of the hallucinogen peyote by American
Indian tribes.
  The bill, approved on a voice vote, would write into law
protections that now exist in federal regulations and the laws of 28
states.  Similar legislation is pending in the Senate.
  The measure makes lawful the use, possession or transportation
of peyote by an Indian for ceremonial purposes.
  The Des Moines Register, Tuesday, August 9, 1994, Page 4A.
Carl E. Olsen             |  Post Office Box 4091    |
carlolsen@dsmnet.com      |  Des Moines, Iowa 50333  |
iowanorml@commonlink.com  |  (515) 243-7351          |


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