In the Sentinel’s November 10 coverage of the FBI’s arrest, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office’s prosecution, of Adelanto City Councilman Jermaine Wright, reference was made to an incident shortly after the City of Adelanto legalized the cultivation of marijuana within the city’s industrial park district.
According to those present and others knowledgeable about operations at City Hall, one day while large numbers of applicants filed into City Hall, city officials on hand were confronted with several people toting satchels, briefcases and suitcases filled with cash, prompting a decision by then-city manager Cindy Herrera to shut City Hall down for the day to avoid the chance of wrongdoing or misinterpretation.
Some have said the incident never occurred. They, however, are not willing to go on the record. Others insist large amounts of money were coming into City Hall. Another individual said that the account of City Hall’s closure and the suitcases of money was an unfortunate conflation of two separate events.
What is clear is that the prospect of a lot of money being generated in Adelanto through cannabis operations has created an unseemly frenzy.