Madison marijuana start-up investors headed to prison

An investment plan hatched among a group of high-achieving Madison high school and college friends has begun to pay new dividends: federal prison sentences.

That’s because the plan, administered by UW-Madison business students or graduates, involved driving to California at least 19 times with bundles of cash to buy hundreds of pounds of marijuana for sale to customers and “investors” in Madison, according to federal prosecutors.

Seven men were charged in U.S. District Court last spring with conspiring to buy, transport and deliver marijuana in loads varying from 5 to 50 pounds, according to Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert A. Anderson. All pleaded guilty.

“Most of them were business students, smart kids who saw a business they wanted to profit from,” he said.

The two who were sentenced this month — Parvis Samadzada and Haris Riza, both 22 and of Madison — got prison terms of one year and one day...

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