OAKLAND -- One of Oakland's highest-profile cannabis entrepreneurs is scheduled to be arraigned on 13 felony counts for allegedly pocketing city grant money that was to be used for upgrades at four of his properties.

In a complaint filed Thursday, the Alameda County District Attorney's office accused Dharminder "Dhar" Mann of submitting copies of checks made out to contractors for city reimbursement without actually submitting the checks to the contractors.

In several cases, prosecutors wrote, Mann "simply redeposited the checks to his bank account, writing on the back of the checks 'not used for intended purpose.' "

The city paid Mann $44,000 based on the fraudulent checks.

Mann, 27, owns several businesses including weGrow, a hydroponics store that he wants to turn into a nationwide chain. His parents own Friendly Cab -- Oakland's largest taxi company -- and both they and Mann are frequent contributors to city politicians, including Councilwoman Desley Brooks, whom he charged $30 to host her 2010 re-election campaign website.

The four properties cited by prosecutors belong to Mann's real estate venture MannEdge Properties.

Mann's attorney John Runfola said in a statement that Mann was discouraged with the city's bureaucracy and "admittedly took shortcuts" to complete the reimbursement process but has been cooperating with the investigation for three years.

"It is unfortunate that the district attorney's office is prosecuting this young businessman instead of continuing the dialogue," he wrote.

Mann's first weGrow store, formerly iGrow, in East Oakland closed last year after several contractors filed civil claims saying they hadn't been paid.

Prosecutors are charging Mann with multiple counts of grand theft and offering forged documents as well as a single count of forgery.

At a property on 70 Hegenberger Loop, where Mann ran the weGrow store, prosecutors wrote that Mann in…

Brown claims 90 percent smoked marijuana in 1985

Former NFL offensive lineman Lomas Brown, an ESPN analyst, believes more than half of NFL players smoke marijuana.

Brown made his claim to the Detroit News on Friday.

He said that three marijuana-related arrests of Detroit Lions players this off-season are just examples of what is a widespread problem in the league. "I just don't think you'll be able to curb this," Brown told the newspaper.

Brown said the problem was much worse when he joined the NFL in 1985, when he believes perhaps 90 percent of players smoked marijuana.

A CBS Sports report in April found that four out of 10 draft-eligible players this year failed at least one drug test at school and two of 10 failed more than once.

About 70 percent of prospects at the draft combine admitted to using marijuana, according to an ESPN report.

In 2009, roughly one-fourth of all football players admitted to marijuana use over the past year, which was the highest of any sport surveyed, in an NCAA report.

Willie Nelson called for the legalization of marijuana in a candid interview in the Guardian. “If we taxed and regulated the drugs the way they do in other parts of the world, we would be far better off,” said the country music legend, who has been active on the issue as co-chair of National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML) and as founder of the TeaPot Party. The Cosmic Cowboy also spoke eloquently on music, God, and Obama. Nelson spoke of Washington’s failure to pass significant legislation on weed, despite Connecticut recently becoming the 17 state to decriminalize it. “It’s coming. It has to…” said Nelson, “because economically, we need the money.” When assessing the Obama presidency, Nelson lamented that despite noble aspirations, the president has been predictably restricted by the nature of D.C. politics. “I don't think the president has as much power as we think he does” he said. The comments come as Nelson seems to have stepped up his activism on the marijuana in recent months. In March, he was seen campaigning in Oregon for the Oregon Cannabis Tax Act legislation that would allow personal marijuana cultivation and sale. Oregon votes on the measure in July. Last month, appropriately on 4/20, Nelson spoke at an unveiling of statue of him in Austin, with 2,000 locals serenading the folk singer with a chorus of new track “Roll Me Up and Smoke Me When I Die”.