Deana Martin made the news after federal agents arrested her and brought her to court for running a multi-million dollar marijuana business.For the Milton mother of four, it was a stark change from past news coverage of her and prior businesses, which included a cupcake shop and wholesale bread bakery.But now, Martin said she would do it all over again. In a series of interviews with 5 Investigates, she explained the confluence of events that led her to the marijuana business and how she believes the good her product did for people in need is worth the prison time she is facing. “It’s an opportunity for me to sort of make people understand that it wasn’t what it seemed, at least on a moral level,” she said, explaining her decision to come forward. “This sounds so trite, but as a society, we’re so comfortable with people suffering as long as it’s not us. Right? ‘Your mother has cancer. I’m so sorry to hear that.’ But in the back of your mind, like, ‘Thank God it’s not me, and I don’t.'”She added, “Did I take it to an extreme? Yeah. But in general, don’t be comfortable with people hurting around you if there’s something that you can do to prevent it.”The idea for what would become Northern Herb came in 2015. Her son Keith had suffered his third concussion from high school wrestling, and the symptoms were unbearable.Her sister had used medicinal marijuana to end her addiction to opioids and suggested they look into it.Martin offered her son the choice to take CBD, a chemical found in marijuana that doesn’t have the psychoactive ingredient.”Within 48 hours, Keith’s concussive symptoms were gone. And we’re not talking about just migraines. We’re talking about a kid who tried to kill himself,” she said.The seemingly miraculous effect of CBD got Martin thinking. “I needed money. I’m not going to pretend that I didn’t. At the time, my husband and I’s businesses had failed. I was — we still are — deeply in debt. And to me, it looked like a confluence of solving two problems at the same time,” she said.Martin never got approval from the state of Massachusetts, where the first official medical marijuana dispensary opened in 2015. Instead, she went the black market route.Martin, educated at Boston College, had run several businesses before, so she wasn’t worried about the business model. Where to find marijuana was another matter.”It took me a little while to sort of find my way around, find some suppliers, friends of friends. ‘Do you know a guy? I know a guy,'” she said. “It took me probably a good year and a half to get enough steady supply that I was confident and to be able to supply the patients that I had already sort of developed.”She said she kept her prices reasonable and the delivery system reliable. Her West Coast suppliers started to notice she wasn’t like the other drug dealers.”Suppliers were meeting me at the airport and like, here, here’s a Rolls Royce for the week, here’s a Maserati for the week,” she said. “And I’d be like, ‘How do I rate this?’ I don’t understand. But then what would happen is they would start to talk about the product, and the room would go quiet when I was talking, and I’m like, ‘What do I really know more about this than you do? And that’s sort of what it came down to. I became this sort of like weed expert.” She estimates she was filling about 1,000 orders a week. Around 60 or 70 percent of her customers she considered to be in need of marijuana. The remaining customers were recreational users.Prosecutors said that Northern Herb didn’t require customers to provide proof that they had medical marijuana cards, but Martin disputes that, saying the company required medical cards until recreation marijuana was approved for use. The federal government said Northern Herb had $14 million in sales over three years, though Martin said her profits were not large. Most of the profits she did make, she said, went to paying down the debts she had accrued before Northern Herb. She did buy a Porsche, which, in hindsight, she said, was a terrible mistake. She only had the car for about two weeks in any case before the whole enterprise came crashing down.The day of the raid, in 2018, she had a meeting with an attorney to start negotiating with tax authorities about paying down her debt. Then she drove herself in the Porsche to Northern Herb’s rented warehouse in Hyde Park.”I remember seeing helmets, bulletproof vests, long guns,” she said. It was clear to Martin from the questioning by the DEA and other federal agents that they were presuming she had cartel connections.In May, Martin pleaded guilty to tax evasion, money laundering and marijuana distribution charges. Last month a judge sentenced her to four years in prison and ordered her to pay more than a half-million dollars in restitution.”Do you wish you had never gotten involved with this?” 5 Investigates’ Mike Beaudet asked her.”No,” Martin replied. “I wouldn’t change a thing. I know for a fact there are people who are alive now that wouldn’t be alive.”She said she is sorry about the impact on her family. “I’m leaving behind my family, and my kids are in their twenties, thirties. It’s not outside the realm of possibility that a grandchild could be born while I’m there,” she said. The judge gave her between three and six months to get her affairs in order before reporting to federal prison. The judge also praised her business acumen, saying that after reading a review of how organized the business was, “I have to say, I was impressed for all the wrong reasons, but I mean you really have an incredible talent, and I’m sure when you put this in the right direction, things are going to be fine.”Martin’s attorney, Brad Bailey, called her a “remarkable woman who has overcome a great deal of adversity in her life.”She became passionate about the medicinal and therapeutic healing power of marijuana and, as she told the judge herself at her sentencing, she is someone who feels obligated “to always do good.””She believed she was doing just that through her marijuana delivery service, particularly when serving sick and infirm clients who were unable to obtain medicinal marijuana cards. Moreover, in a State where recreational use was already legal and where Marijuana Dispensaries are now not only authorized but recognized as legitimate business concerns and investments, there was an extremely thin line between what she admitted doing without a license and what is being done today at multiple government-approved locations throughout the Commonwealth. Unfortunately and incongruously, Federal Law still says otherwise,” Bailey said in a statement.Martin has been studying martial arts to help prepare herself for prison, though she said she’s not expecting much trouble.”The hardest part is going to be the leaving, not the being. So it’s the ripping that I dread, not so much the presence because I think once I’m there, I’ll be OK,” she said.
Deana Martin made the news after federal agents arrested her and brought her to court for running a multi-million dollar marijuana business.
For the Milton mother of four, it was a stark change from past news coverage of her and prior businesses, which included a cupcake shop and wholesale bread bakery.
But now, Martin said she would do it all over again. In a series of interviews with 5 Investigates, she explained the confluence of events that led her to the marijuana business and how she believes the good her product did for people in need is worth the prison time she is facing.
“It’s an opportunity for me to sort of make people understand that it wasn’t what it seemed, at least on a moral level,” she said, explaining her decision to come forward. “This sounds so trite, but as a society, we’re so comfortable with people suffering as long as it’s not us. Right? ‘Your mother has cancer. I’m so sorry to hear that.’ But in the back of your mind, like, ‘Thank God it’s not me, and I don’t.'”
She added, “Did I take it to an extreme? Yeah. But in general, don’t be comfortable with people hurting around you if there’s something that you can do to prevent it.”
The idea for what would become Northern Herb came in 2015. Her son Keith had suffered his third concussion from high school wrestling, and the symptoms were unbearable.
Her sister had used medicinal marijuana to end her addiction to opioids and suggested they look into it.
Martin offered her son the choice to take CBD, a chemical found in marijuana that doesn’t have the psychoactive ingredient.
“Within 48 hours, Keith’s concussive symptoms were gone. And we’re not talking about just migraines. We’re talking about a kid who tried to kill himself,” she said.
The seemingly miraculous effect of CBD got Martin thinking.
“I needed money. I’m not going to pretend that I didn’t. At the time, my husband and I’s businesses had failed. I was — we still are — deeply in debt. And to me, it looked like a confluence of solving two problems at the same time,” she said.
Martin never got approval from the state of Massachusetts, where the first official medical marijuana dispensary opened in 2015. Instead, she went the black market route.
Martin, educated at Boston College, had run several businesses before, so she wasn’t worried about the business model. Where to find marijuana was another matter.
“It took me a little while to sort of find my way around, find some suppliers, friends of friends. ‘Do you know a guy? I know a guy,'” she said. “It took me probably a good year and a half to get enough steady supply that I was confident and to be able to supply the patients that I had already sort of developed.”
She said she kept her prices reasonable and the delivery system reliable. Her West Coast suppliers started to notice she wasn’t like the other drug dealers.
“Suppliers were meeting me at the airport and like, here, here’s a Rolls Royce for the week, here’s a Maserati for the week,” she said. “And I’d be like, ‘How do I rate this?’ I don’t understand. But then what would happen is they would start to talk about the product, and the room would go quiet when I was talking, and I’m like, ‘What do I really know more about this than you do? And that’s sort of what it came down to. I became this sort of like weed expert.“
She estimates she was filling about 1,000 orders a week. Around 60 or 70 percent of her customers she considered to be in need of marijuana. The remaining customers were recreational users.
Prosecutors said that Northern Herb didn’t require customers to provide proof that they had medical marijuana cards, but Martin disputes that, saying the company required medical cards until recreation marijuana was approved for use.
The federal government said Northern Herb had $14 million in sales over three years, though Martin said her profits were not large. Most of the profits she did make, she said, went to paying down the debts she had accrued before Northern Herb.
She did buy a Porsche, which, in hindsight, she said, was a terrible mistake. She only had the car for about two weeks in any case before the whole enterprise came crashing down.
The day of the raid, in 2018, she had a meeting with an attorney to start negotiating with tax authorities about paying down her debt. Then she drove herself in the Porsche to Northern Herb’s rented warehouse in Hyde Park.
“I remember seeing helmets, bulletproof vests, long guns,” she said.
It was clear to Martin from the questioning by the DEA and other federal agents that they were presuming she had cartel connections.
In May, Martin pleaded guilty to tax evasion, money laundering and marijuana distribution charges. Last month a judge sentenced her to four years in prison and ordered her to pay more than a half-million dollars in restitution.
“Do you wish you had never gotten involved with this?” 5 Investigates’ Mike Beaudet asked her.
“No,” Martin replied. “I wouldn’t change a thing. I know for a fact there are people who are alive now that wouldn’t be alive.”
She said she is sorry about the impact on her family.
“I’m leaving behind my family, and my kids are in their twenties, thirties. It’s not outside the realm of possibility that a grandchild could be born while I’m there,” she said.
The judge gave her between three and six months to get her affairs in order before reporting to federal prison. The judge also praised her business acumen, saying that after reading a review of how organized the business was, “I have to say, I was impressed for all the wrong reasons, but I mean you really have an incredible talent, and I’m sure when you put this in the right direction, things are going to be fine.”
Martin’s attorney, Brad Bailey, called her a “remarkable woman who has overcome a great deal of adversity in her life.
“She became passionate about the medicinal and therapeutic healing power of marijuana and, as she told the judge herself at her sentencing, she is someone who feels obligated “to always do good.”
“She believed she was doing just that through her marijuana delivery service, particularly when serving sick and infirm clients who were unable to obtain medicinal marijuana cards. Moreover, in a State where recreational use was already legal and where Marijuana Dispensaries are now not only authorized but recognized as legitimate business concerns and investments, there was an extremely thin line between what she admitted doing without a license and what is being done today at multiple government-approved locations throughout the Commonwealth. Unfortunately and incongruously, Federal Law still says otherwise,” Bailey said in a statement.
Martin has been studying martial arts to help prepare herself for prison, though she said she’s not expecting much trouble.
“The hardest part is going to be the leaving, not the being. So it’s the ripping that I dread, not so much the presence because I think once I’m there, I’ll be OK,” she said.
