Milton Woman Ran $14M Pot Ring With 25-Person Sales Team: Feds

BOSTON — A Milton woman was arrested and charged in federal court Tuesday after running a black market marijuana business out of Foxborough, Milton, Hyde Park, and Canton under the guise of a medical marijuana delivery service. Deana Martin, 51, was charged with conspiring to distribute more than 100 kilograms if marijuana.

According to court documents, Martin owned and managed Northern Herb between 2015 and 2018. The business was a website offering to sell and deliver raw marijuana, pre-rolled joints, and edibles. Prosecutors said the company claimed to only provide medical marijuana, but did not require a customer to show their medical card.

Prosecutors further argued Northern Herb delivered marijuana to people's front doors and hallways, where unknown third parties might have access to it. Court documents said the company stored and distributed its marijuana at locations in Canton, Foxborough, Milton, and Hyde Park.

Northern Herb also employed at least 25 workers. According to court documents, Martin set up an employee incentive-based program for sales. For example, prosecutors said Martin would reward her employees with incentives for selling more than 10 pounds of marijuana per month.

From May 2016 through July 2018, Northern Herb had total revenue exceeding $14 million, and Martin herself claimed an income of $80,000 per month, court documents said. Martin controlled numerous bank accounts into which money was laundered, prosecutors said. Court documents said she also used several accounts in another person’s name to conceal her control over this money and to hide it from the U.S. Bankruptcy Court. Martin used money from Northern Herb sales to pay more than $300,000 towards the mortgage on her house and to buy a 2017 Porsche Boxster, prosecutors said.

Court documents said Northern Herb did not withhold or pay taxes on its millions of dollars in marijuana sales. In an email referencing cannabis taxes charged by one state government, Martin wrote: “Zero taxes is still better,” court documents said.

The charge provides for a mandatory minimum sentence of five years and no greater than 40 years in prison, a minimum of four years and up to a lifetime of supervised release, and a fine of up to $5 million.