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Opinion: Media slant DiMatteo-Swanson articles


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To the community,

Last week several sources published a report that Angela Swanson was cleared of bribery charges. They simply quoted what the district attorney said as if it is fact. You asked no one else to comment while knowing full well that many of us came to question the district attorney’s actions and in fact the DA dismissed all charges against Mr. Gino DiMatteo, in embarrassment over the way this matter was handled.

They articles leave the reader with the impression that Mr. DiMatteo is some sort of hated criminal and Ms. Swanson is innocent with statements like, “no receipt was given.” Does not sound very innocent to me. It sounds like she took the money with some other intention than charity. They call Mr. DiMatteo a “career criminal” when in fact he followed the letter of the law in opening the store and at that time ran another very mainstream business.

Ted Long

Ted Long

They copy the DA’s statement that, “Mr. DiMatteo clearly believed that he needed to make a donation.” Based on what evidence? As a person who actually looked into it, that is far from the truth. Had you bothered to ask, I would have shown you so.

The expression, “You scratch my back, I scratch yours” was said when the DA was trying to get Mr. DiMatteo to wear a wire to entrap Ms. Swenson and Mr. DiMatteo refused. This by the way has a lot more to do with the circumstances then anything else.

As to the conclusion that Mr. DiMatteo is a prior convicted felon, a statement taken without support, isn’t it the city’s job to investigate potential applicants? Yes, in deed it is, and they did. Did you question or even wonder why the police investigation prior to the issuance of the license did not reveal such information? No, you did not. Had you, your story would have been very different. As to the federal arrest and Mr. DiMatteo prison sentence, to this day believe he was set up. Look at the facts. He is running a California legal, city authorized dispensary, he has inventory and products, the city without notice closes him down. What is he supposed to do with the inventory? Under the California law he must return it to the cooperative member growers, the raid was days after the closing before final arrangements could be made. It certainly is no big surprise that he would have some product left over, is it?

I do not have nor have I ever used marijuana, nor have any interest. I do believe the so-called war on drugs is a joke, just as Prohibition of the ’20s was. I have seen first-hand the benefit of the use by cancer patients, and I am sure if you had a loved one doing cancer treatment, you would want them to have the benefit. I also know that there are many more deaths and tragedies from alcohol than there ever has been with marijuana, and society needs to work this out. I also know that the force of the government is overwhelming. If an average citizen is arrested, guilty or not he may look forward to months of struggle and tens of thousands of dollars to spend to defend himself. The issue is only aggravated when a newspaper publishes the authority’s views, with no counter balancing opportunity for comment; the public is left with a very inaccurate view. I am not Mr. DiMatteo’s best friend, I do know him and he comes across much more like a loving family man then “Bragger of connections to organized crime.” Which, by the way, I never heard him say.

Ted Long, South Lake Tahoe

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Comments

Comments (7)
  1. go figure... says - Posted: January 30, 2014

    Delusional at best

  2. Captain Grammar Pants says - Posted: January 30, 2014

    Good God! This man is an attorney and he seems quite unable to correctly use the English language. There are many gramatical errors in this letter. Scary!

  3. go figure... says - Posted: January 30, 2014

    Would you hire this guy to represent you in a court? NO WAY
    he cant even write an intelligent sentence, let alone spell. Of course some might think these are qualities worth having in your attorney. Look what it got dimatteo.

  4. Haha says - Posted: January 30, 2014

    You know Ted looks like Sid the land sloth from the Ice Age movie. Hahaha

  5. Larry says - Posted: January 31, 2014

    Boy have you guys missed the boat, we all know that not only is Ted the best attorney here he is also the only one the helps the poor and disenfranchised. More importantly, what about the content? The DA’s actions and the reporting, once again Ted is willing to speak out while all you fools miss the point. By the way Ted won Geno’s case at the state level, and he was not his attorney when he plead to the federal charges

  6. Ted says - Posted: January 31, 2014

    Boy you guys are tough, no ax to grind? fortunately fame as an attorney is in orator, spoken words not written. It is strange however that I have published over 50 articles both locally and national, written and or edit three books and am a requested speaker several times a year concerning state and national issues. I also taught English as a second language all over Eastern Europe, guess I just got lucky. See you in court…

  7. go figure... says - Posted: January 31, 2014

    Ted, you are only a legend in your own mind. Attorney, well that is a matter of opinion…