cannabisnews.com: Bucks Exec Charged As Pot Grower 





Bucks Exec Charged As Pot Grower 
Posted by FoM on November 10, 1999 at 06:55:43 PT
by April Adamson, Daily News Staff Writer
Source: Philly News
It was a high-tech operation tucked into the attic of a posh home in Bucks County's most affluent suburb.Two dozen mature marijuana plants were growing hydroponically, just waiting to be cut, weighed, bagged and, authorities believe, distributed.
And the expert gardener behind the secret stash was a millionaire CEO - a corporate titan who raised the pot seedlings with loving care, authorities said.Daniel Goldberg, 52, president and CEO of a New Jersey insurance company, was nabbed Saturday night in his Upper Makefield home, charged with drug possession and intent to distribute. Goldberg's 28-year-old housemate also was charged, authorities said.Now, Goldberg, who could face five to 10 years in prison, has temporarily stepped aside as CEO of the MIIX Group in Lawrenceville. He also faces the possibility that the district attorney's office will seize his home.The corporate bigwig took a leave of absence this week after the bust, and no one answered his door at his nicely landscaped home on Pineville Road yesterday.He also did not return a call to his office seeking comment. His son declined to comment."He's not your garden-variety criminal. This was a very sophisticated horticultural. . .operation," said Bucks County District Attorney Alan Rubenstein, who wants to have the three-story home seized. "It's not the kind of set-up devised overnight."Goldberg was home at 6 p.m. Saturday when police, acting on a tip and armed with a search warrant, hit the jackpot when they discovered an attic garden in his $350,000 home, officials said.Police who searched the attic carried out 24 3-foot-high pot plants, growing lights and dehumidifiers. Police seized close to 80 different pieces of evidence during the search, reports show.The entire attic level was rigged with lighting, water piping, heat plates and planters designed to produce "high-quality" marijuana, officials said.Cops say they also stumbled on a bevy of bongs and pipes that appeared to have been used."It was thousands of dollars worth of equipment," said Rubenstein. "Was it a hobby? I don't know and can't speculate."Goldberg, who earned a million dollars last year as CEO and president of MIIX, a medical liability insurance company, posted $50,000 bail and was released Saturday, officials said. Edward Francis Weist, who listed Goldberg's address as his own, also posted bail, officials said.MIIX Group, a publicly traded company, is one of the largest providers of medical liability in the United States with operations in 25 states. The company says it currently has 16,500 clients. The New Jersey state Department of Insurance says it has had no problems with the company.This week, the company announced Goldberg will take a leave of absence "for personal reasons unrelated to his position as CEO of the company." The company's CFO, Kenneth Koreyva, will act as CEO in the interim, the company said.The Medical Society of New Jersey, which established MIIX Group in 1977, said yesterday it trusts "this company and anticipates that MIIX will resolve this situation expeditiously." Published: November 10, 1999Send e-mail to adamsoa phillynews.com© 1998 Philadelphia Newspapers Inc. 
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Comment #2 posted by Ryan Nelson on July 18, 2001 at 11:21:34 PT:
Im from Bucks...
Im actually from the county that he lives in...and marijuana is the least of this areas worries...Authorities should crack down on underage tobacco distrubution among teens, and worry about the drugs that are causing the real problems (cocaine, heroin, etc etc....)
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Comment #1 posted by keith celli on May 01, 2001 at 20:27:19 PT:
pot, criminal?
this guy likes to smoke pot.....he obviosly doesnt need the money, so selling it was not his intention. i think that people should have the right to smoke or grow it if they so desire. lets arrest the people selling tobacco and really do the world some good.
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