MONROE — The owner of Hemp 1848 was arrested last week following an investigation into several of its business locations.
Jerry McCoy, 58, Janesville, owner of Hemp 1848, was arrested and charged with 13 felonies of Maintaining a Drug Trafficking Place, Manufacturing/Distributing THC, Possess with Intent to sell THC (>1,000-2,500 grams).
In June 2026, the Janesville Police Department Street Crimes Unit began an investigation into the business, Hemp 1848. During the investigation, it was found that Hemp 1848 was selling illegal THC products. As a result of the investigation, search warrants were served in Janesville at 117 E. Milwaukee Street, 30 S. Main Street and 908 Sharon Road. Search warrants were also served at the Hemp 1848 stores in Edgerton, Beloit and Monroe.
On August 19, at approximately 9:05 a.m., Officers and Detectives from the Monroe Police Department and members of the Stateline Area Narcotics Team executed a search warrant at the Hemp 1848 business in the 1000 block of 16th Avenue, City of Monroe.
Evidence was seized to support the investigation, the Janesville Police Department said in a press release. McCoy was held at the Rock County Jail pending his initial court appearance.
The Janesville Police Department was assisted in the investigation by the Rock County Sheriff’s Office, Beloit Police Department, Monroe Police Department, and the DEA Task Force. Further investigation and collaboration between the Monroe Police Department and the Janesville Police Department is ongoing.
Over the weekend, protesters gathered in Janesville in defense of McCoy with signs saying “Legalize it” and “1848 saved my life”.
In Wisconsin, cannabis with anything more than trace amounts of Delta-9 THC is illegal — for either recreational or medicinal use. In neighboring Illinois, just miles from Monroe, Beloit and Janesville, it is legal for both purposes. It is also legal for recreational use in neighboring states of Minnesota and Michigan, and legal for medicinal use in Iowa, leaving Wisconsin as an island surrounded by legalized cannabis states. In all, 41 states (and Washington D.C.) have legalized cannabis in some form — medicinal or recreational — with 24 allowing simple adult recreational use.
That leaves Wisconsin as one of just nine states where it is still illegal, along with Indiana, Kansas, Tennessee, North Carolina, South Carolina, Wyoming, Idaho, though North Carolina has decriminalized, but not legalized it.
— Adam Krebs