What’s a dentist to do when his drug-trafficker son goes to prison? Why, take over the family business, of course! One California dentist who thought this was a good idea is now being held on $75K bail after being busted for his participation in a cross-country drug smuggling operation.
What’s a dentist to do when his drug-trafficker son goes to prison? Why, take over the family business, of course! One California dentist who thought this was a good idea is now being held on $75K bail after being busted for his participation in a cross-country drug smuggling operation.
After his son was sentenced to a year in prison for second-degree criminal sale of marijuana, Joshua Weitz, 63, a long-time dentist in San Francisco, decided teeth weren’t bringing in enough dough and allegedly took over the younger Weitz’s drug business.
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And this was no small-scale operation: Weitz shipped 20-30 pounds of marijuana cross-country each month, from his son’s medical marijuana growing facility in California. Once the cannabis reached New York, co-conspirator and NYC Housing Authority employee Rodolpho Bastardo, 31, kept the drugs in his work locker for safekeeping (because it’s always a good idea to keep your drugs at work). When police raided his locker, they found four pounds of pot, just waiting to be sold.
Bastardo wasn’t the only New York culprit; Big Apple residents Douglas and Angel Caraballo and Diana Duarte were implicated in the scheme and charged with possession, conspiracy and sale of the drugs. All three were under the age of 25 – a fact Weitz’s attorney stressed when defending his client at the bail hearing.
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“None of them are grandpa eligible,” attorney Neal Weisner said, emphasizing that Weitz is about to have a grandchild, has been in practice for over 33 years and is a respected member of society. However, Assistant District Attorney Daniel Hughes wasn’t buying it.
“I don’t think it’s appropriate to discuss his educational and professional background,” he said.
Continue to page two for a twist in the story you won't believe...
Weitz made almost $100,000 a month for his part in the operation. The real kicker? On the website for his dental practice, Weitz features a video where he stresses the detrimental effects of marijuana on dental health.
In the video, Weitz quotes a study published by the Journal of the American Medical Association that says: “health promoters and dental and medical practitioners should take steps to raise awareness of the strong probability that regular cannabis users may be doing damage to the tissues that support their teeth.”
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“I’d say that it’s really a pity that there’s only one study out there that has data on cannabis and periodontal health,” Weitz editorializes in the video. “Experimentation and study is really needed in this field.”
“That’s why at Mission Dental Health, we are encouraging cannabis users to see the dentist more often,” he continued.
Maybe Dr. Weitz was just trafficking weed to drum up more business for his dental practice?
You can view the ironic video here.
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