Anthony Weiner might be trading politics for a much more lucrative industry — marijuana — according to an exclusive report from the Daily Mail.
Weiner is out on a form of supervised release, a privilege of being on “good behavior” for most of the 15 months he served in federal prison for sending lewd photos of himself to a teenager. He’s serving the remainder of his sentence at a halfway house in Manhattan, and appears to be free to roam the city during the day, so long as he returns to the appropriate building at night.
On Monday, the Mail reports, Weiner took a breakfast meeting with a potential business partner and a source close to the conversaion overheard what was clearly the beginning of marijuana venture. Weiner reportedly referenced “Colorado” and “California,” and spoke of his lack of experience with “hydroponics,” but instructed his potential partner about mentioning his involvement.
It’s not clear what role in the effort Weiner was reportedly discussing; as a convicted felon, he’d be barred from participating in legal marijuana production, distribution, or sales in most states and at the federal level, but he could consult or provide investment capital.
Regardless of whether he ends up in the pot business, Weiner will have to find gainful employment as a condition of remaining in the federal halfway house program. Conditional release, like the kind Weiner has been given, requires that former inmates work at least 40 hours per week. Weiner may be an exception to this rule, the Daily Mail claims, because of his notoriety — and because politics doesn’t exactly prepare you for the real world of post-incarceration employment.
Weiner’s troubles started years ago, when he was confronted with evidence that he had “sexted” a lewd photo of himself to a woman who was not his wife, using Twitter. After initially denying the photo, Weiner apologized for his behavior and resigned from his position in Congress as a representative from the state of New York.
A short time later, Weiner tried to revive his politial career with an ill-advised campaign for mayor. Again, during that stint, he was revealed to have traded lewd messages, in which he referred to himself by the alias “Carlos Danger,” with a Democratic campaign worker from Ohio named Sydney Leathers. Weiner closed his mayoral campaign in disgrace and receded from the public eye.
In early 2017, Weiner was arrested on charges that he’d engaged in lewd conversation across state lines with a minor — a fifteen-year-old girl. He was eventually tried and convicted on federal charges and sentenced to a nearly two-year stint in federal prison. He was released late last month after serving just over a year of his sentence. He is expected to officially finish his sentence and be re-released into public in May.