RHODE ISLAND STATE POLICE ARREST A MEDICAL MARIJUANA CARDHOLDER ON MARIJUANA DISTRIBUTION CHARGES

Rhode Island – Colonel Steven G. O’Donnell, Superintendent, of the Rhode Island State Police and
Commissioner of Public Safety, announces that on Wednesday, March 30, 2016, members
of the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) Task Force arrested Joshua Berg,
age: 24 and Amanda Ribeiro, age: 22 both of 69 Beardsworth Road, Tiverton, Rhode
Island for Possession with Intent to Deliver a Schedule I Controlled Substance – Marijuana
and Possession in excess of five (5) Kilograms of Schedule I Controlled Substance –
Marijuana.
On March 30, 2015, members of the HIDTA Task Force, with the assistance of the
Tiverton Police Department, executed two (2) court authorized search warrants in the
town of Tiverton at 69 Beardsworth Road and a commercial building, located at 152 Bears
Den Road. The investigation revealed that Joshua Berg and Amanda Ribeiro were
allegedly utilizing their residence and the commercial building to illegally manufacture
marijuana. Joshua Berg was found to have been issued a Rhode Island medical marijuana
caregiver card, but this investigation revealed that he had exceeded the limits set by
Rhode Island General Law, 21-28.6-4, of twenty-four (24) mature plants and five (5)
ounces of usable marijuana.
Members of the HIDTA Task Force seized approximately seventy (70) pounds of
marijuana, twenty-one (21) grams of butane honey oil (BHO) edibles and twenty-five (25)
mature plants.
Joshua Berg and Amanda Ribeiro were processed at State Police Headquarters and
arraigned in Second Division District Court. The Honorable Associate Judge Colleen M.
2
Hastings ordered both Mr. Berg and Ms. Ribeiro to be held without bail, pending a bail hearing on Tuesday, April 5, 2016.
Colonel Steven G. O’Donnell stated, “this is yet another example of someone trying to take advantage of the medical marijuana program that needs revamping.”
Every person convicted of violating the provisions of § 21-28-4.01 – Possession with Intent to Deliver a Schedule I Controlled Substance – Marijuana, may be imprisoned for not more than thirty (30) years, or fined not more than one hundred thousand dollars ($100,00) nor less than three thousand dollars ($3,000), or both.
Every person convicted of violating the provisions of § 21-28-4.01.1 – Possession in excess of 5 Kilograms of Schedule I -Marijuana, may be imprisoned for a term up to fifty (50) years and fined not more than five hundred thousand dollars $500,000.
The HIDTA Task Force is managed by the Rhode Island State Police and comprised of members from Providence Police, Pawtucket Police, Johnston Police, Central Falls Police, West Warwick Police, East Greenwich Police, Lincoln Police, United States Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF), United States Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), and the United States Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement-Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).