Bay Area men accept plea deals in Mendocino County pot trafficking case

The two men were stopped by CHP officers in 2013 with more than 135 pounds of processed marijuana, according to the Mendocino County District Attorney’s Office.|
GLENDA ANDERSON
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT

Two Bay Area men have pleaded no contest in Mendocino County Superior Court to felony charges of illegally transporting marijuana.

Abraham Volstein Norton, 31, of Berkeley, and Pasqual Mote Young, 30, of Richmond, were arrested together in 2013 while driving in separate vehicles with 135 pounds of processed marijuana, according to Mike Geniella, a spokesman for the Mendocino County District Attorney’s Office

The men were stopped California Highway Patrol officers following a report of reckless driving and speeding, he said.

Norton, along with his brother, Winslow Lazer Norton, of Emeryville, was previously convicted in federal court of conspiracy and money laundering in connection with a marijuana operation that included two Bay Area marijuana cooperatives that authorities alleged were large-scale trafficking and money laundering operations, according to a 2013 Marin Independent Journal article. Revenue from one of the businesses totaled more than $26 million in the first half of 2007, the newspaper reported, citing federal sources.

Abraham Norton is set to be sentenced Aug. 26. Young is scheduled to be sentenced Sept. 2.

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