Trulieve Cannabis Corp (TCNNF)

[cabos_tacos]

3:20 p.m. update

Peter Nothstein, deputy chief of the U.S. Department of Justice’s Public Integrity Section, played a recording of a July 2016 phone call between undercover agent Mike Sweet and “J.T.” Burnette.

Burnette shared with Sweet that Trulieve, the medical marijuana company owned by his spouse, Kim Rivers, had won approval for dispensing the drug. He said it had always been a close race between Trulieve and another medical pot company, Surterra, as to who would open first.

“The Stanley Cup was to see who opened the first dispensary first,” Burnette said. “And they’re 30 days behind us.”

Mike Sweet, one of a trio of undercover FBI agents who investigated public corruption in Tallahassee between 2015 and 2017, took the stand this morning in the extortion trial of “J.T.” Burnette.

Sweet, who went by the nickname “Sweets,” told jurors that he worked as an undercover agent for 20 years before retiring. Another undercover agent, Mike Miller, called Sweets in on the case because of his fictitious backstory or “legend” as a player in the medical marijuana world.

Burnette was intensely interested in medical cannabis, Sweet and Miller both testified.

Sweet was wearing a grey suit, untucked shirt and had his long blond hair in a ponytail.

Sweet said he developed his backstory over a number of years as a former drug dealer, who parlayed profits from illegal marijuana and cocaine sales into the legitimate medical marijuana world.

He said he first met Burnette in January 2016 over breakfast in Tallahassee. His friendship with Burnette “developed well,” he said. “Mr. Burnette seemed to like that I had a medical marijuana background. He was actively pursuing that business.”