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Former Prosecutor Gets Caught With 1,000 Pounds Of Weed At His Law Office

He should have kept his cannabis law practice separate.

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weed moneyCannabis law is a booming enterprise. Big-name players like DLA Piper have already decided to represent clients that intend to sell marijuana. Matthew Morris decided to cut out the middle man and be a lawyer who sells weed. In bulk. In Virginia. Where what he was doing was definitely illegal. You’d think his background as a prosecutor would have prevented him from being in this situation, but then you wouldn’t be reading this article. ABA Journal has coverage:

Lawyer Matthew Taylor Morris, 38, of Virginia Beach, Virginia, was suspended effective Oct. 1 and ordered to show cause why his law license should not be further suspended or revoked, according to a Sept. 27 show-cause order… Morris allowed other participants in the conspiracy to store 1,000 pounds of marijuana and cash proceeds at his Virginia Beach law firm, the Top Tier Law Group, prosecutors said.

The street value of the marijuana products ranged from $800,000 to $1.6 million, according to a statement of facts signed by Morris and filed with the show-cause order.

If a pound of weed was a reason he should get his license suspended, there are 1,000 reasons. It’s one thing to think about that numerically, but take a second to think about it volumetrically. If you’re in your office, look around you and Tetris the shit out. Where would you put half a ton of — if the gross value is any indication — mid? After giving it your best mental shot, you can go here to see what it would look like. This is a different matter where 1.1k pounds of weed was seized, but close enough is close enough. Hopefully the tip-toeing around his office nugs was enough practice to circumvent the suspension or revocation.

We are all for lawyers having side gigs — selling weed may even be one of them — but at least do the due diligence of making sure that your side gig won’t cost you your legal livelihood.

Chris Williams became a social media manager and assistant editor for Above the Law in June 2021. Prior to joining the staff, he moonlighted as a minor Memelord™ in the Facebook group Law School Memes for Edgy T14s.  He endured Missouri long enough to graduate from Washington University in St. Louis School of Law. He is a former boatbuilder who cannot swim, a published author on critical race theory, philosophy, and humor, and has a love for cycling that occasionally annoys his peers. You can reach him by email at [email protected] and by tweet at @WritesForRent.

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