Back in 2016, an agent for the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) secretly recorded Tallahassee developer J.T. Burnette — who has since married Kim Rivers, CEO of the multimillion-dollar Florida-based cannabis giant Truelieve — boasting that he and his childhood friend, then-Florida house member Halsey Beshears (R-Monticello), tweaked a cannabis bill signed into law in 2014 that governed the state’s then-fledgling medical marijuana industry by cordoning off access to commercial licenses. The bill mandated that licenses only be granted to nurseries with a 30-year-history in the state and the ability to post a $5 million bond. This was an advantage to Burnette’s then-girlfriend, Rivers, and to Beshears’ brother, Thad Beshears, who sits on Truelieve’s board of directors and co-owns Simpson Nurseries (which was founded in 1902).
420 Intel – Marijuana Industry News, 11/15/2021 19:00:00