Pot seller now a fugitive

Louis Wayne Fowler, one in a long line of people who found out the hard way that the zero tolerance federal policy on marijuana use means just that, is still on the lam to avoid prosecution in Sacramento.

The 53-year-old Fowler, who had been operating a Folsom Boulevard medical marijuana dispensary until he was arrested by Drug Enforcement Administration agents in 2005, failed to show up Dec. 21 for a change-of-plea hearing in federal court.

U.S. District Judge Edward J. Garcia revoked the $250,000 bail secured by a Rio Linda residence owned by Fowler's mother, where he had been living under house arrest.

The judge also ordered that a no-bail warrant be issued for Fowler's arrest.

As of Friday, neither his attorney nor his family had heard from Fowler.

"I just hope I haven't seen my brother for the last time," said his sister, Pat Fowler.

His attorney, Johnny Griffin III, said he hoped in vain to hear from his client over the Christmas holiday after stressing to Fowler's mother how important it is that he surrender.

It falls to the U.S. Marshals Service to look for Fowler.

Deputy U.S. Marshal Carolyn Griffin, the agency's warrant supervisor in Sacramento, said the investigation is under way.

The case has been assigned to Deputy U.S. Marshal Marco Rodriguez, according to Griffin.

She said anyone with information that might assist in Fowler's capture should telephone Rodriguez at (916) 930-2047 in Sacramento.

Fowler was scheduled to plead guilty Dec. 21 to cultivating at least 1,000 marijuana plants and carrying a firearm in connection with drug trafficking.

He faced a mandatory minimum 10 years in prison on the cultivation charge.

California voters ratified doctor-recommended marijuana for medicinal use in 1996, and Fowler left his job at his parents' print shop and opened a cannabis store, Alternative Specialties, in August 2004.

But, the following June, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that state law does not protect pot dealers from the federal statute outlawing the substance.

On the day of the high court's ruling, Fowler told The Bee that his business would remain open.

"I am proceeding as usual," he said at the time. "I've always been violating federal law since I opened, and the Supreme Court ruling just means that I'm still violating federal law.

"But I am in compliance with California law."

Fowler said then that he was inundated with calls from patients wondering how the ruling would affect his business.

"These are very sick people, and they are worried that we might shut down," he said. "I've reassured them that we aren't going anywhere."

A month later, DEA agents armed with search warrants swooped down on Fowler's pot shop, his home, his car and the homes of relatives, seizing marijuana, guns and cash.

Less than a week after that a DEA criminal complaint hit him with drug and weapons charges, and he was arrested and held without bail.

In 2006, Griffin persuaded U.S. Magistrate Judge Gregory G. Hollows to cut Fowler loose on bail with electronic monitoring.

Griffin reported to Garcia on Dec. 21 that the electronic tracking device his client was wearing had been compromised around 10 a.m. that day, the very time Fowler was due in court.

The device was removed from Fowler's ankle and left in the residence.

Fowler served seven years in state prison in the 1990s for embezzling $5.1 million from the State Water Resources Control Board, where he worked as an entry-level accountant from 1982 to 1985.

Most of the money has never been recovered.

With his crime not yet detected, he departed for Arizona, where he lived under the name of William Rice, a Sacramento man who died after being electrocuted on July 6, 1985.

Fowler operated two video rental stores in Arizona and lived the life of a big spender.

Authorities caught up with him in 1989, and he was extradited to Sacramento.

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