The dispensary, at 8464 Santa Monica Blvd. near North Alfred, is owned by Andrew Harrison Kramer, who pleaded guilty in March to a number of criminal charges stemming from a dispute he had with the former landlord of another dispensary that Kramer once owned on Sunset Boulevard,
Among the 26 charges to which Kramer pleaded guilty were conspiring to rob his former landlord’s Beverly Hills home, to stalking and attempting to burn that home and to hiring others to attack the landlord, George Lanning, and members of Lanning’s family. He also pleaded guilty to hiring others to throw Molotov cocktails onto an apartment roof above the Sunset Super Shop dispensary at 8921 Sunset Blvd. near Hilldale that Lanning owned.
“While the licensee was purporting to operate a marijuana dispensary as permitted under state and local law, he was in fact a conspirator in a sophisticated criminal enterprise involved in the operation of multiple retail marijuana dispensaries, which engaged in violence and intimidation to expand its operations and dissuade competition,” says a report prepared for the license commission.
The Zen Healing business has been enmeshed in a number of controversies. In 2013, federal Drug Enforcement Agency agents raided the business, seizing more than 300,000 grams of marijuana and 45,000 grams of hashish along with various foods and candies containing marijuana.
At the time, a spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney’s office said that Kramer “is the head of a marijuana trafficking organization operating in the Los Angeles, California area that distributes marijuana retail through his store locations, as well as, wholesale to other marijuana stores. “[Mr.] Kramer also directed and/or is involved in the distribution of marijuana to other areas of the United States, including New Jersey, South Carolina, and North Carolina.”
The reason a revocation was not considered sooner is that Kramer has been a very generous sponsor of the Gay Men’s Chorus and of Council member John Duran. It is the old “pay to play” in WeHo.
Just because this guy pleaded guilty or no contest to this does not mean he actually did these things, especially since defending yourself in a lawsuit can cost hundreds of thousands, and if you win in a criminal suit, all you get is your freedom, your still out all of the money of the lawsuit. It could be he got offered a sweat plea deal, and he just made a simple business decision. Unless he did something illegal at his weho store and the city has concrete prof the city should stay out of it, and keep collecting the tax… Read more »
I hope they allow a more legit dispensary to take its place. Otherwise the other ones will get too crowded.
I’d like to know why the City hasn’t “considered” this sooner?
What would happen to a pharmacist if they had admitted to these charges? The answer is quite clear. Take care of this problem. Someone who is so personally involved with medication for the public, in participating in violent and vengeful acts, could certainly harm someone who offends him, through their medication. Crime and medicine never mix.
He pleads guilty to 26 criminal crimes and the City of West Hollywood is “considering” revoking his license? Wow, what do they need to consider? The City needs someone to look into their practices as they have continued to allow this criminal activity to go on for years while they have been “considering” revoking his license.
@ Marla..Hopefully “considering” is really referring to the formality of the review that must be done before a business license can be revoked (which, hopefully it will be).
I don’t think this article and the issue at hand is about rich folk. I do think it’s about a business owner who has pleaded guilty to 26 criminal charges and whether or not the City of West Hollywood should revoke the business license of of this guy’s business that operates within our City. I say, yes they should!
Another CRIMINAL in Multiples CRIMES! Are we waiting to find how HE will Criminalize Us EACH? Just another more detailed evidence to see how the Rich Get RICHER, from the Start, to where they end up Paying for Laws to allow them more CRIMES against Us to make Them RICHER!!
sounds like Kramer hit the pipe a few too many times