UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
DISTRICT OF MASSACHUSETTS

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA )
)
v. ) Criminal No. 18-10364-DPW
)
(1) JASIEL F. CORREIA II, and )
(2) GENOVEVA ANDRADE, )
)
 Defendants )
GOVERNMENT’S SUBMISSION IN RE MEMORANDUM REGARDING PROTECTIVE
ORDER

 The United States of America files this submission to clarify that the government’s
Motion to Lift Protective Order (Dkt. No. 410), dated March 17, 2022, was not filed at the instance
of the Massachusetts Cannabis Control Commission (“CCC”). 

 

In early November 2021, during
preparation for trial in the matter of United States v. Genoveva Andrade, the government
corresponded with the CCC general counsel after defense counsel for Andrade had subpoenaed
CCC records, which included certain records that were subject to the existing protective order
applicable to the CCC (Second Amended Protective Order, Dkt. No. 124, the “Protective Order”).
During these communications with CCC general counsel, the government learned that the
Protective Order had the unintended consequence of preventing the CCC from openly and
transparently conducting certain of its regulatory activities in the ordinary course of its business
because the CCC had refrained from referencing and/or disclosing certain government reports and
information that it had relied upon in making certain statutory and regulatory findings.

 

For
example, CCC matters pertaining to certain applicants which would normally have been conducted
before the public in accordance with open-meeting laws, would be conducted in closed executive
session because of the Protective Order. Because the matter of Andrade was still an ongoing trial
matter, the government did not seek lifting the Protective Order.

 

Case 1:18-cr-10364-DPW Document 420 Filed 03/31/22 Page 1 of 3
2
In early March 2022, the government learned that a relative of MJ Vendor #4 (see Second
Superseding Indt., Dkt. No. 69) could not proceed in applying for a license because the Protective
Order barred the CCC from disclosing information publicly that was required as part of the
application process.1

 

 Since the jury trial for defendant Jasiel Correia concluded in May 2021, and
Genoveva Andrade pled guilty and was sentenced on March 7, 2022; and because the need for the
CCC to conduct its regulatory business openly and transparently in the normal course outweighed
the need to avoid pretrial publicity, the government requested that the Court lift the Protective
Order (Dkt. No. 410) after notifying defense counsel for Andrade and Correia that it intended to
do so. Only counsel for Correia opposed the government’s motion (Dkt. No. 414). The
government did not contact the CCC prior to filing its motion.

 

In preparation for the March 25, 2022 hearing scheduled for the Motion to Lift Protective
Order (see Dkt. Nos. 412, 413), the government contacted CCC general counsel, and confirmed
its understanding that the CCC supported the government’s Motion to Lift the Protective Order.
In addition, the government confirmed with the CCC its understanding that based on the Exception
Order and the Memorandum Regarding Protective Order, issued on March 25, 2022, that “[t]he
Exception Order was designed to permit disclosure by the government to the [CCC] for use in
performing its regulatory duties.” The CCC also recognizes that “if additional disclosures not
covered by its directive were thought by the [CCC] to be necessary,” it will exercise the option to
“seek further direction from this court[,]” and it will do so through a “specific identifiable
modification of the Exception Order.”

 

1 Subsequent to the Court’s Order (Dkt. No. 416) denying the governm