By Lea Barrios
SACRAMENTO – A man – unidentified because the Zoom live stream was unintelligible at the time – was allegedly found with illegal firearms and $77,000 in cash from his illegal sale of marijuana, and brought before Sacramento County Superior Court Monday
The defendant was charged with illegal firearm possession and transportation. His bail was maintained at $580,000 because of his prior strikes and the sophistication of his marijuana operation.
His defense counsel asked that his bail be reduced in accordance with the emergency bail guidelines as opposed to the standard amount it was set at – $580,000. Adrienne McMillan from the District Attorney’s office disagreed because he had several 
firearms in his car and marijuana.
The court stated that he had two AR-15’s and two handguns. One of the handguns was modified in a way that elements of the gun would be illegal. Judge Kevin McCormick said the amount of cash and the firearms showed a sophistication of his marijuana profession.
The defendant also has a prior strike in 2014, which indicated that he is at risk of falling into the same behavior, the judge said.
In a different case, a man allegedly stole liquor from a liquor store and pushed an employee. He was charged with “dirk or dagger” for having a knife on him. Although his defense attorney (not identified on the Zoom feed) argued the alleged weapon was still in its factory packaging, implying that he didn’t use the weapon.
Defense counsel also stated that she reviewed the surveillance footage from the store and that the angle is hard to see but it does not show that he pushed the employee. Instead, she said it appeared that he gave something to the employee, the employee took it and he left with the beer. He pleaded not guilty to his charges.
Defendant’s lawyer requested his bail be reduced because $1,000,000 is excessive. The court agreed and changed his bail to $500,000.
Deputy District Attorney Adrienne McMillan requested that his bail stay as it was because he had several priors including drug possession, failure to register as a sex offender, trespassing, DUI, driving on a suspended license, domestic abuse, and attempted murder.
Judge McCormick agreed that he is a danger to society and he has an inability to comply with the norms of society. He said he did reduce bail because all of the charges on his rap sheet were charged as felonies but convicted as misdemeanors.
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