{"id":52385,"date":"2022-01-19T13:14:48","date_gmt":"2022-01-19T21:14:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/2022\/01\/19\/texas-agriculture-commissioners-consultant-indicted-in-hemp-license-bribery-scandal\/"},"modified":"2022-01-19T13:45:36","modified_gmt":"2022-01-19T21:45:36","slug":"texas-agriculture-commissioners-consultant-indicted-in-hemp-license-bribery-scandal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/2022\/01\/19\/texas-agriculture-commissioners-consultant-indicted-in-hemp-license-bribery-scandal\/","title":{"rendered":"Texas Agriculture Commissioner\u2019s Consultant Indicted In Hemp License Bribery Scandal"},"content":{"rendered":"<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are holding accountable powerful actors who abuse the system and break the law. Our community needs to know that no one is above the law and will face justice.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

By Sneha Dey<\/a>, The Texas Tribune<\/strong><\/p>\n

Todd Smith, a top political consultant to Agriculture Commissioner\u00a0Sid Miller<\/a>, was indicted Tuesday on felony charges of theft and commercial bribery related to taking money in exchange for state hemp licenses that are doled out through Miller\u2019s office, according to Travis County district attorney Jos\u00e9 Garza.<\/p>\n

Smith was\u00a0arrested in May<\/a>, accused of taking $55,000 as part of the scheme, according to an arrest warrant affidavit. Smith and others were accused of soliciting up to $150,000 to get an \u201cexclusive\u201d hemp license from the Texas Department of Agriculture. Smith allegedly said $25,000 would be used for a public poll on hemp. A hemp license from the state costs $100, according to the arrest warrant.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are holding accountable powerful actors who abuse the system and break the law,\u201d Garza said. \u201cOur community needs to know that no one is above the law and will face justice.\u201d<\/p>\n

Smith could not immediately be reached for comment but his attorneys said in a statement that their client has not broken any laws.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are disappointed that the Travis County District Attorney has obtained an indictment against Todd Smith, he was not invited to address the grand jury. He is not guilty of these charges and intends to vigorously defend himself against the allegations made by the Travis County District Attorney\u2019s Office,\u201d attorneys Sam Bassett and Perry Minton said in a statement.<\/p>\n

The Legislature legalized hemp production, manufacturing and retail in 2019, opening the door for the rise of cannabidiol, or CBD, products. At the time of the alleged solicitations, the Texas Department of Agriculture was developing regulations for the emerging hemp industry.<\/p>\n

The indictment comes as Miller\u00a0seeks a third term as agriculture commissioner<\/a>. Miller is up against two Republican challengers in the March primary, state Rep.\u00a0James White<\/a>, R-Hillister, and Carey Counsil, an economics professor at Blinn College.<\/p>\n

Miller\u2019s challengers have already targeted him, attempting to link him to Smith. In\u00a0an interview with the Houston Chronicle<\/a>\u00a0earlier this month, Miller dismissed the allegations against Smith, whom he still employs.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt happens every election. They know they\u2019re not going to get you on anything, but the process is the penalty. All they need is a headline: Sid Miller\u2019s political consultant under investigation for selling hemp licenses,\u201d Miller told the Chronicle. \u201cWell, they brought him in for questioning. They said OK, this was 8 months ago, they said we\u2019re not filing charges and we\u2019re not indicting you, so end of the story, folks, move on. But they got the headlines, so they bring up that old crap.\u201d<\/p>\n

Miller on Tuesday evening declined immediate comment, saying he was just learning the news of the indictment from the Tribune reporter. He later went on conservative radio host Chad Hasty\u2019s show and said he\u2019s gonna review indictment, but he\u2019s \u201cnot ready to throw [Smith] under the bus\u201d and is \u201cnot surprised,\u201d suggesting it\u2019s politically motivated. Miller says he still doesn\u2019t believe Smith did anything wrong.<\/p>\n

Smith has faced scrutiny before over his conduct and ties to the Department of Agriculture. In 2018,\u00a0the Austin American-Statesman reported<\/a>\u00a0that Smith promised a San Antonio businessperson an appointment with the Department of Agriculture in exchange for a $29,000 loan. And in 2016, Miller gave Smith\u2019s wife\u00a0a newly created assistant commissioner position<\/a>, one of the highest-paying roles in the department.<\/p>\n

This article originally appeared in The Texas Tribune.<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

\n

James Barrag\u00e1n and Patrick Svitek contributed to this report.<\/em><\/p>\n

The Texas Tribune is a member-supported, nonpartisan newsroom informing and engaging Texans on state politics and policy.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

Disclosure: The University of Texas at Austin has been a financial supporter of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that is funded in part by donations from members, foundations and corporate sponsors. Financial supporters play no role in the Tribune\u2019s journalism. Find a complete list of them\u00a0here<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

South Carolina Medical Marijuana Legalization Bill Will Be On Senate Floor Next Week, Sponsor Says<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

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Photo courtesy of Pixabay<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

The post Texas Agriculture Commissioner\u2019s Consultant Indicted In Hemp License Bribery Scandal<\/a> appeared first on Marijuana Moment<\/a>.<\/p>\n


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\u201cWe are holding accountable powerful actors who abuse the system and break the law. Our community needs to know that no one is above the law and will face justice.\u201d By Sneha Dey, The Texas Tribune Todd Smith, a top political consultant to Agriculture Commissioner\u00a0Sid Miller, was indicted Tuesday onContinue Reading<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":457,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"false","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[81],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52385"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/457"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=52385"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52385\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":52386,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52385\/revisions\/52386"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=52385"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=52385"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=52385"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}