SANTA MONICA—Authorities from the Santa Monica Police Department arrested Richard Pecorelli on September 4 in connection to the “Green Zebra Collective,” a purported online medical marijuana delivery scheme that violates Proposition 215, also known as California’s Compassionate Use Act of 1996.

According to a press release from Sgt. Rudy Camarena of the SMPD, the Narcotics Unit conducted a lengthy undercover investigation and executed a search warrant on Pecorelli’s home on the 1800 block of 19th Street after getting numerous calls from neighbors detailing complaints of excessive pedestrian and vehicle traffic in a residential zone.

Marijuana
Richard Pecorelli. Photo courtesy of the SMPD.

Neighbors also alerted authorities that they witnessed on-site, hand to hand sales of suspected narcotics. The warrant presented evidence of unlawful sales and distribution of marijuana, as well as a large amount of cash.

“These type of for-profit, backroom operations, not only create a neighborhood nuisance, but pose a heightened and genuine safety risk to the community at large as the operations lack security protocols and adequate cash handling practices to deter crime,” said Lt. Clinton Muir from the Police Department’s Criminal Investigations Division.

The case is currently being reviewed by the Los Angeles District Attorney’s Office.