Hookah: WY Hip Hop Hippie Page 2

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Fed charges burn smoke shop owner

By CORY MATTESON
Star-Tribune staff writer Thursday, May 31, 2007

A jury believed he was selling smoking products, not marijuana bongs. A judge decided those products were drug paraphernalia, and allowed police to keep seized ones off the street.

On Wednesday, Jeff Doles, owner of the now-closed Hip Hop Hippies smoke shop in Gillette, was in court again, on federal charges that he knowingly and unlawfully sold drug paraphernalia.

Before he entered U.S. District Court in Casper, Doles, who now lives in Douglas, said he believed that the charges being filed against him by United States Prosecutor Matthew Mead constitute double jeopardy.

He said he received a court summons in the mail last week. The charges — three counts of unlawfully selling drug paraphernalia on various dates — reminded him all too much of the charges he already faced from the State of Wyoming. He won that legal battle, Doles said, because the prosecution could not prove that he was selling the thousands of pipes and bongs in his shop for use with anything illegal.

There was never any marijuana residue in the products he sold, he said. His attorney then argued to the jury that Doles’ products were just the same as selling hypodermic syringes in a drug store. They’re supposed to be used for legal reasons, but that hasn’t stopped people from using them otherwise. The jury sided with Doles.

That he is on the defense again for what he sees as the same charges has Doles upset.

A jury believed he was selling smoking products, not marijuana bongs. A judge decided those products were drug paraphernalia, and allowed police to keep seized ones off the street.

On Wednesday, Jeff Doles, owner of the now-closed Hip Hop Hippies smoke shop in Gillette, was in court again, on federal charges that he knowingly and unlawfully sold drug paraphernalia.

Before he entered U.S. District Court in Casper, Doles, who now lives in Douglas, said he believed that the charges being filed against him by United States Prosecutor Matthew Mead constitute double jeopardy.

He said he received a court summons in the mail last week. The charges — three counts of unlawfully selling drug paraphernalia on various dates — reminded him all too much of the charges he already faced from the State of Wyoming. He won that legal battle, Doles said, because the prosecution could not prove that he was selling the thousands of pipes and bongs in his shop for use with anything illegal.

There was never any marijuana residue in the products he sold, he said. His attorney then argued to the jury that Doles’ products were just the same as selling hypodermic syringes in a drug store. They’re supposed to be used for legal reasons, but that hasn’t stopped people from using them otherwise. The jury sided with Doles.

That he is on the defense again for what he sees as the same charges has Doles upset.

“That it’s a crock of it,” he said, measuring his words when asked his initial reaction to the federal summons.

Doles pleaded not guilty to all three counts of unlawfully and knowingly selling or attempting to sell drug paraphernalia. His trial is scheduled to begin Aug. 6 in Cheyenne.

“What is Hip Hop Hippies?” U.S. Magistrate Judge Michael Shickich asked at Wednesday’s hearing.

“We sell smoke accessories,” Doles told him.

Theoretically, Shickich said in court, Doles could face up to nine years in prison and up to $750,000 in fines.

After the Campbell County jury acquitted Doles of drug paraphernalia charges, Campbell County prosecutors found a way to keep many of the items seized during three raids of Hip Hop Hippies. They used civil forfeiture law to get permission from another judge to keep 330 items and seize thousands more, according to the Associated Press. Doles is appealing to the Wyoming Supreme Court.

Bill Eichelberger, a Campbell County prosecutor, declined comment on the federal charges.

“This is a violation of my civil rights,” Doles said before his arraignment. “I’m not going to give up.”
Contact reporter Cory Matteson at (307) 266-0589 or cory.matteson@casperstartribune.net

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Prosecutor applies law unevenly

Friday, March 30, 2007

Editor:

Open letter to Assistant Campbell County Attorney William Eichelberger:

It’s common knowledge that about a month ago there was a gun show at the Camplex in Gillette.

What isn’t common knowledge, but should be, is the fact that there was a vendor there selling glass smoking accessories exactly like those that were being sold at Hip Hop Hippies Inc.

Your department, coupled with law enforcement, have spent thousands of taxpayers’ dollars manipulating the law, trying to prove the pipes that Hip Hop Hippies Inc. sell are drug paraphernalia.

It blows me away that, after having gone to the extremes that you have gone to in shutting us down, that you’ve followed it up by allowing another vendor to sell the exact same kind of pipes, at a firearms show of all things!

It is our mission here at Hip Hop Hippies Inc. to point a generation of young minds in the direction of the truth, and part of that truth is that half of your department most likely attended that gun show, and the “Drug Paraphernalia booth” (according to you) went undisturbed by law enforcement in its sales for three full days.

It seems to me like selling glass smoking accessories is only a violation of the Wyoming state statute when they’re being sold by Hip Hop Hippies Incorporated!

With five other stores in Wyoming selling smoking accessories exactly like Hip Hop Hippies Inc., there’s only one inference one can draw from this, and that is that the demise of Hip Hop Hippies Inc. is personal to you, and violating our civil rights in furtherance of achieving your goal is of little or no consequence to you. That’s about as absolutely unprofessional as you can possibly be, especially after six members of my peers told you that I’m “not guilty!”

You’ve made a mockery of the jury system, yourself and your department in it’s entirety in the process!

JEFFREY W. DOLES
Gillette
President/Hip Hop Hippies Inc.

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Forfeiture laws punish guilty and not guilty alike

Friday, March 30, 2007

Star-Tribune Editorial Board

Gillette will be better off without Hip Hop Hippies, a head shop run by a convicted meth dealer.

Nonetheless, a jury found Hip Hop owner Jeff Doles not guilty on drug paraphernalia charges. So, though local authorities’ subsequent confiscation of the store’s merchandise may have been legal, it wasn’t right.

Police seized nearly 3,000 pipes, bongs and other items from the shop. But Doles was acquitted on criminal charges. So the county attorney went to a different judge and tried a different tactic: civil forfeiture of the goods. This time the prosecutor won.

Doles’ store is out of business. That’s probably a good thing for Gillette, and officials can claim a victory in the war on drugs.

But what happened should worry anyone who cares about civil liberties. We hope the Wyoming Supreme Court will overturn the forfeiture on appeal.

That doesn’t seem likely. The U.S. Supreme Court has upheld the Civil Asset Forfeiture Reform Act in numerous cases since it was enacted seven years ago. Prosecutors particularly like to use the law when drugs are involved.

But even if asset forfeiture is legal, there’s something decidedly un-American about a public policy that punishes someone who — according to a jury verdict — has committed no crime.

Doles is not someone who inspires or merits much sympathy. He pleaded guilty to dealing methamphetamine in 1998. He later escaped and hid for two years in Mexico before being captured and punished.

In this new case, he obviously knew he was at least skirting drug paraphernalia laws when he opened Hip Hop Hippies.

But the action taken by Campbell County Attorney Bill Eichelberger smacks of vindictiveness. The prosecutor brought criminal charges against Doles. A jury rejected them. The case should have ended there.

But civil court offers prosecutors a second chance, because the standard of proof is lower than in criminal cases. Instead of proving guilt beyond reasonable doubt, Eichelberger merely had to convince a judge that the bongs and pipes probably were involved in a crime.

In this case, the target was a head shop. But it’s easy to imagine a scenario in which a more savory business could be destroyed.

What if police suspect a shoe store owner is using his business as a front to sell drugs? Even if he’s acquitted, his store might be forfeited if a judge decides it probably was used to commit a crime.

Doles is nobody’s poster boy for innocent victimhood. Yet if his rights are trampled, everyone’s rights are at risk. Who’s next?

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State endorses and ruins at whim

Sunday, February 25, 2007

Editor:

I, as owner of Hip Hop Hippies, was acquitted by a jury of my peers on one count of possession of drug paraphernalia and two counts of possession of drug paraphernalia with intent to deliver in January 2006.

Following the successful conclusion of the criminal trial, I hired a local attorney to incorporate my business into the state of Wyoming as a retail store that primarily sold smoking accessories.

After paying the incorporation fees and becoming a legitimate part of corporate Wyoming, law enforcement entered my Casper store armed with automatic weapons and an illegal warrant to confiscate thousands of dollars’ worth of the smoking accessories.

Following that incident, a couple of months later in a kangaroo court proceeding, Judge Deegan of Gillette determined that the 330 smoking accessories originally taken from the Gillette store were in fact drug paraphernalia, effectively voiding the verdict of the jury who originally acquitted me and said that they were not!

This is not about my right to sell smoking accessories, it’s about people’s right to buy them. This pathetic system of government that we’ve so diligently put our faith in has violated citizens, as much as they have violated me.

It is not our best interest that they have at heart, it’s our money, and if that wasn’t the case, then ask this question: “If it’s illegal to sell smoking accessories in this state, then why did they incorporate Hip Hop Hippies as a retail store to sell smoking accessories, and why have they accepted the taxes Hip Hop Hippies Inc. collected from the sales of these smoking accessories (5.5 percent of $112,000 in eight months)?”

Exposing the corruption of government is not an easy task, as it is a powerful entity in and of itself, along with a general public that wants to believe that they really do care.

When people turn on their nightly news one day in the future and hear how Hip Hop Hippies Inc. prevailed in the Wyoming Supreme Court, they’ll know beyond doubt that our creator didn’t make mistakes, and that I wasn’t doing this to be antisocial, I did this because I was called to do this!

If readers have an interest in the outcome of this case, please log on to www.hiphophippiesinc.com and click on “STORE.”

JEFFREY W. DOLES
Gillette
President, Hip Hop Hippies Inc.

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Update? 2/21/07
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Hip Hop Hippies Owner, Jeffrey W. Doles, was acquitted by a jury of his piers, on one count of possession of drug paraphernalia, and two counts of possession of drug paraphernalia with intent to deliver, in January of 2006.

Following the successful conclusion of his criminal trial, he hired a local Wyoming attorney to incorporate his business into the State of Wyoming as a retail store that primarily sold smoking accessories.

After paying the incorporation’s fees, and becoming a legitimate part of corporate Wyoming, law enforcement, entered his Casper store armed with automatic weapons and an illegal warrant to confiscate thousands of dollars worth of the smoking accessories, that, they incorporated him into their State to sale.

Following that incident, a couple of months later, in a Kangaroo Court proceeding , Judge Deegan of Gillette Wyoming, Determined that the 330 smoking accessories originally taken from the Gillette store, were in fact drug paraphernalia, effectively voiding the verdict of the jury who originally acquitted Jeffrey, and said that they were not!

At the conclusion of the Kangaroo Court hearing, the State that incorporated Hip Hop Hippies, as a retail store to sell smoking accessories, sought, and received a warrant within twenty minutes of the cheese ball hearing, to seize 2500 more smoking accessories from his Gillette store.

It has been our Mission here at Hip Hop Hippies Inc. From the onset of our obtaining a business licence in this state, to point a generation of young minds in the direction of the truth, and encourage them to believe that our creator didn’t make mistakes. (Read Gen 1;29 and 1st Timothy chapter 4)

In furtherance of our mission to point a generation of young minds in the direction of the truth, let me just say, that I am Jeffrey W. Doles, and this is not about my right to sell smoking accessories, it’s about your right to buy them. This pathetic system of government that we’ve so diligently put our faith in has violated you, as much as they have violated me.

It is not your best interest that they have at heart, it’s your money, and if that wasn’t the case then ask yourself this question, “If it’s illegal to sell smoking accessories in this state, then why did they incorporate Hip Hop Hippies as a retail store to sell smoking accessories, and why have they acceped the taxes Hip Hop Hippies Inc. collected from the sales of these smoking accessories?” (5.5% of 112,000.00 in 8 months)

Exposing the corruption of government is not an easy task, as it is a powerful entity in and of itself, with unlimited recourses, and the power of manipulation, along with a general public that wants to believe that they really do care. It is, however not as invincible as it thinks it is, and I promise those of you, who believe and know the truth, that I did not pull down their pants in vain. I pulled down their pants because I intend to spank their ass in a public forum on behalf of each and everyone of you!

When you turn on your nightly news one day in the near future and you hear how Hip Hop Hippies Incorporated Prevailed in The Wyoming State Supreme Court, you’ll know beyond any reasonable doubt, that our creator didn’t make mistakes, and that I wasn’t doing this to be antisocial, I did this, because I was called to do this!

If you have an interest in the outcome of this case, and would like to know more about it, Please log on to www.hiphophippiesinc.com and click on “STORE” to show your support.

God Bless!
Jeffrey W. Doles
President, Hip Hop Hippies Inc.