Feds Charge Mission Viejo Man in Pot Shop Ring

A Mission Viejo man was arrested by federal agents today under allegations that he helped own and operate for-profit pot shops.

Perry "Bucky" Brooks Forehand, 33, faces three felony counts in U.S. District Court, Santa Ana involving marijuana distribution.

Federal agents allege Forehand was one of a dozen people in Orange and Los Angeles counties involved in a narcotics-trafficking conspiracy led by John Melvin Walker, 56, of San Clemente.

Walker allegedly owned and operated nine marijuana dispensaries in Los Angeles and Orange counties.

The indictment alleges the dispensaries generated tens of millions of dollars in income. It is illegal for medical marijuana dispensaries to make a profit. 

The dozen are among 14 defendants named in a 14-count indictment returned last week by a federal grand jury.

The dispensaries named in the indictment that are operated by Walker are:

• Safe Harbor Collective in Dana Point,
  
• APCC in San Juan Capistrano.
  
• Alternative Herbal Health in Long Beach,
• Garden Grove Alternative Care in Garden Grove,
• Santa Ana Superior Care in Santa Ana,
• Belmont Shore Natural Care in Long Beach,
• Santa Fe Compassionate Health Care in Santa Fe Springs,
• Costa Mesa Patients Association in Costa Mesa,
• and The Whittier Collective in Whittier.

Most of the dispensaries have been closed, but investigators suspect several still operate, including Belmont Shore Natural Care, said Thom Mrozek of the U.S. Attorney's Office.

Walker also faces a charge of being a felon in possession of firearms, including a handgun, a 12-gauge shotgun and an AK-47. Authorities seized the weapons and about $390,000 in cash from his home last year, Mrozek said.

The other defendants are:

• Ryan Scott Hunt, 36, of Fullerton;
  
• Karen Lee Leto, 70, of Huntington Beach;
• Craig Lawrence Leto, 49, of Newport Beach, who is Karen Leto's son;
• Alvin Wesley Walker, 29, of Long Beach, who authorities believe is John Walker's nephew;
• Ryan Aparicio Mondragon, 30, of Westminster, who is still at-large;
• Danielle Pamela Stebel, 25, of Long Beach;
• Nicholas Einar Lattu, 28, of Long Beach, who is still at-large;
• Nicholas Martin Butier III, 32, of Lakewood;
• Sierra Marina Serhan, 33, of Long Beach;
• John Eugene Scandalios, 59, of Lakewood;
• Michael Alan Nixon, 33, of Long Beach; and
• Alan David Nixon, 59, of Long Beach, who is Michael Nixon's father.

--City News Service