Katelyn Baker
Well-Known Member
Transporting marijuana across state lines is a federal offense punishable by five to 40 years in prison and up to $1 million in fines, depending on the amount and other aggravating factors.
But if multiple raids in Pueblo County are an indication, most offenders caught in Colorado with large illegal cannabis grows apparently destined for out-of-state rarely see jail time.
Among the 37 people arrested in Pueblo raids this year, most have been offered plea deals for lesser drug charges and sentences of, at most, three years probation, a Gazette review of records shows. Other cases in which suspects have been indicted in federal District Court may yet yield more stringent punishment, the review found.
Pueblo County Sheriff Kirk Taylor said the state doesn't need harsh sentences to deter criminals. Any conviction will help close the loophole in the medical marijuana law that allows criminals to hide in plain sight, he said. This is a guise in which an ostensible medical marijuana operation is producing for the black market.
The state's health agency can revoke for one year a person's medical license if they're convicted of a marijuana charge. That's important, Taylor said, because most people exploiting legalization in the state are doing so through the medical marijuana Amendment 20, not recreational use.
"I want a conviction, any conviction, because then I can get their medical marijuana - their extended plant count - knocked out," Taylor said.
A group of four growers with medical licenses allowing extended plant counts of up to 99 plants are legally allowed to grow 444 plants, including 12 plants each for medical and recreational use under Colorado law. The problem is, most home grows that size are also shipping the product out of state to turn massive profits on the black market, Taylor said.
Unlike the Drug Enforcement Administration, which has been largely silent on most busts they're executing across the state, Pueblo County has been active and vocal. Since March, they've arrested 37 offenders, all of whom were later charged.
Eleven of those cases have resulted in convictions, and several others are still in the criminal justice process.
"So that's 11 people ... that can't come back to Pueblo and do this again. They don't have the ability to grow the extended plant count, thereby cutting down on the amount of marijuana that we know is being shipped out of state," Taylor said. "So it is actually, in the long run, very effective."
Probation is the norm
Those convicted might take a different interpretation, however, which would be that Colorado isn't tough on illegal marijuana operations.
- Mathew Schauttet was caught with a large butane hash oil operation, 74 marijuana plants and up to about 20 pounds of dried product in his Knotty Pine Lane home. Three felony charges against him were dropped when he pleaded guilty to misdemeanor possession of marijuana and was sentenced to two years of probation.
- Adriel Trujillo Daniel, a Cuban national who recently moved to Colorado from Florida, was found with a 127-plant marijuana grow operation in his South Hidalgo Drive home. Authorities at the time said they believed he was planning to transport marijuana back to Florida. Daniel pleaded guilty to cultivating more than 30 marijuana plants and possession. His two-year prison sentence was deferred. He's currently serving one year of probation.
- Erica Burch had moved from Florida and started a 358-plant illegal grow and butane hash oil operation when Pueblo police arrested her in April. Three felony charges were dismissed against her when she pleaded guilty to possession of marijuana and was sentenced to 18 months of probation.
- Until September this year, the Radosti family from Florida held the record for the largest illegal grow operation in the county, with 690 plants and 50 pounds of marijuana. In a plea deal, Doug Radosti admitted to a single charge of cultivation of more than 30 plants, receiving two years of probation, in exchange for charges against his 23-year-old son, Warren, being dropped. His wife, Stephanie Radosti, also pleaded guilty to cultivation and received a deferred jail sentence.
- Virgilio Miranda was connected to six other Florida natives found to be growing 214 marijuana plants across five rental properties. He pleaded guilty to cultivation and was sentenced to three years of probation. Two accomplices pleaded to the same charge and received deferred sentences.
- Vanessa Bebeau, so far, is the only person to plead to possession with intent to distribute, but she still received a deferred prison sentence. She was found to be using an indoor swimming pool to support 184 plants and had 10 to 15 pounds of packaged marijuana.
Taylor said he's happy with any prosecution against a drug that has largely been decriminalized across the country, with more states approving medical and recreational use in this month's election. Many district attorneys in Colorado won't touch cases involving marijuana grows "because they're afraid of jury nullification," Taylor said, but Pueblo County District Attorney Jeff Chostner does.
Chostner did not respond to multiple Gazette requests for comment.
"The message I'm trying to get out to those who would come to Pueblo County to illegally grow marijuana is, 'Don't come here,'" Taylor said. "We're going to continue doing what we're doing. My goal is to get them out of Pueblo County."
Illegal grows on decline?
Taylor said he believes Pueblo authorities have not encountered any of the 37 arrested a second time.
He said illegal grow operations are slowing, mainly because more growers are getting the proper medical paperwork to become legal before law enforcement shuts them down. Where deputies used to bust about every other operation they encountered, now it's about one in five, he said.
Of the 107 grow operations they've checked on this year, only the 23 resulting in the 37 arrests have been illegal, Taylor said. That's because more operations are supported by extended plant counts, he said.
About 81,000 of the state's 102,316 medical marijuana licenses allow for plant count extensions between one to six plants, according to September statistics provided by the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment. But 3,838 patients and caregivers were authorized to grow between 76 to 100 plants, and one person was approved for more than 100 plants, the statistics show.
El Paso County has the highest number of medical license holders in the state with 19,330. Pueblo has 3,968, and almost everyone busted for an illegal grow there claimed to hold one of those cards.
Some did.
Jeremiah Bryant had a valid medical license and paperwork to support an extended 99-plant count but was arrested on suspicion of possession and cultivation when authorities found more than three times that - 340 plants - in his 1240 Walden Circle home.
"OK, so I'm over on my plants, can I just get rid of them?" Bryant asked officers, according to his arrest affidavit.
Ryan Reuting had a medical license allowing him an extended count of 37 plants, but authorities found 120 plants in his 612 Limon Drive home, according to his arrest affidavit.
Carlos Augustine Casias was a legal caregiver for two people, as well as being a cardholder, which allowed for a combined grow of 116 plants, his arrest affidavit said. Authorities found 235 plants in his 2254 40th Lane home.
Cases against the three are pending, with court dates scheduled in December.
But it shows how individuals are using a legal system to support their illegal activities, Taylor said. One way to stop such enterprises is to limit the number of plants permitted per household, rather than per person, he said.
"I think that's going to be the future," Taylor said.
Gov. John Hickenlooper agrees, according to his director of marijuana coordination, Andrew Freedman.
Freedman said they support legislation to limit home grows both in number and location, restricting larger operations to commercial, agricultural or industrial zones. They also seek to use medical marijuana tax revenues to reimburse local law enforcement agencies and district attorney offices for shutting down illegal operations, Freedman said.
"I think we need to put more resources into prosecuting and enforcing our laws," Freedman said. "The more we start to have very clear lines about what is legal and what is not legal, and the more we have resources to show this is larger-scale crime, then I think people might be more understanding, and I think we'll get better convictions and we'll get criminal enterprises to realize that Colorado is not the right state to come to."
A few illegal growers in Colorado could see serious prison time, but not all of them will be prosecuted here.
Seven of the people arrested this year have been indicted by the U.S. District Court for Colorado after police called them a grow syndicate suspected of smuggling drugs out of the state. A bust by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and Pueblo County Sheriff's Office uncovered $7.6 million worth of marijuana and $250,000 worth of butane hash oil products in their possession, arrest documents said.
They face charges for marijuana distribution, but a jury trial has not been set.
Felipe Hurtado Cruz was wanted on six felony warrants out of Georgia for allegedly stealing about 8.9 million hydrocodone tablets when authorities found him in Colorado. He had come to Colorado Springs "to grow marijuana under the pretext of medical marijuana," police said at the time.
Authorities found 537 marijuana plants, firearms, ammunition and cash while raiding three homes and arresting Cruz. Still, his only El Paso County charge, according to court records, was for being a fugitive from the law, and that case was dismissed in September when he was extradited to Georgia.
Charges of theft and tampering with utilities - something illegal grow operations often do to avoid high electric bills and detection - are pending in Douglas County, with Cruz's first appearance scheduled this month.
Other local cases will be tried out of state, where laws are stricter toward marijuana.
Dennis Ugarte and Jaivo Escareno-Chavez were arrested in Cimarron Hills and Yoder on Sept. 1 in a raid involving federal agencies. Scant details have been provided about the bust, but a redacted indictment out of the Southern District of Iowa (where the men are from) said the two were found with more than 50 marijuana plants. An exact number wasn't provided.
Colorado charges against the two were dropped, court records show, but they have been indicted in Iowa on two counts of conspiracy and one count of distributing marijuana. A jury trial is scheduled for Nov. 28 in Des Moines.
Several other important arrests may be in the works.
An operation by Laotian nationals uncovered at the end of September yielded more than 22,400 pounds of marijuana from El Paso, Pueblo, Otero, Bent and Crowley counties. Several people were detained in the raids, but Colorado DEA spokesman Tim Scott said no arrests have been made.
Arrests are expected as the investigation continues, Scott told The Gazette. Agents had to execute the search warrants ahead of definitive charges because offenders were nearing harvest, he explained. The DEA previously told the Gazette the Laotian group was preparing to smuggle marijuana to Texas and Arkansas.
Another major bust involving 14 Chinese nationals in September also has not produced charges. All suspects were arrested on suspicion of possession with intent to distribute, but 9th Judicial District Attorney Sherry Caloia said she decided not to file charges while county and federal agencies investigate.
News Moderator: Katelyn Baker 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: Leniency The Rule For Illegal Marijuana Growers As Long As They Don't Come Back
Author: Kaitlin Durbin
Contact: (719) 632-5511
Photo Credit: None Found
Website: The Gazette
But if multiple raids in Pueblo County are an indication, most offenders caught in Colorado with large illegal cannabis grows apparently destined for out-of-state rarely see jail time.
Among the 37 people arrested in Pueblo raids this year, most have been offered plea deals for lesser drug charges and sentences of, at most, three years probation, a Gazette review of records shows. Other cases in which suspects have been indicted in federal District Court may yet yield more stringent punishment, the review found.
Pueblo County Sheriff Kirk Taylor said the state doesn't need harsh sentences to deter criminals. Any conviction will help close the loophole in the medical marijuana law that allows criminals to hide in plain sight, he said. This is a guise in which an ostensible medical marijuana operation is producing for the black market.
The state's health agency can revoke for one year a person's medical license if they're convicted of a marijuana charge. That's important, Taylor said, because most people exploiting legalization in the state are doing so through the medical marijuana Amendment 20, not recreational use.
"I want a conviction, any conviction, because then I can get their medical marijuana - their extended plant count - knocked out," Taylor said.
A group of four growers with medical licenses allowing extended plant counts of up to 99 plants are legally allowed to grow 444 plants, including 12 plants each for medical and recreational use under Colorado law. The problem is, most home grows that size are also shipping the product out of state to turn massive profits on the black market, Taylor said.
Unlike the Drug Enforcement Administration, which has been largely silent on most busts they're executing across the state, Pueblo County has been active and vocal. Since March, they've arrested 37 offenders, all of whom were later charged.
Eleven of those cases have resulted in convictions, and several others are still in the criminal justice process.
"So that's 11 people ... that can't come back to Pueblo and do this again. They don't have the ability to grow the extended plant count, thereby cutting down on the amount of marijuana that we know is being shipped out of state," Taylor said. "So it is actually, in the long run, very effective."
Probation is the norm
Those convicted might take a different interpretation, however, which would be that Colorado isn't tough on illegal marijuana operations.
- Mathew Schauttet was caught with a large butane hash oil operation, 74 marijuana plants and up to about 20 pounds of dried product in his Knotty Pine Lane home. Three felony charges against him were dropped when he pleaded guilty to misdemeanor possession of marijuana and was sentenced to two years of probation.
- Adriel Trujillo Daniel, a Cuban national who recently moved to Colorado from Florida, was found with a 127-plant marijuana grow operation in his South Hidalgo Drive home. Authorities at the time said they believed he was planning to transport marijuana back to Florida. Daniel pleaded guilty to cultivating more than 30 marijuana plants and possession. His two-year prison sentence was deferred. He's currently serving one year of probation.
- Erica Burch had moved from Florida and started a 358-plant illegal grow and butane hash oil operation when Pueblo police arrested her in April. Three felony charges were dismissed against her when she pleaded guilty to possession of marijuana and was sentenced to 18 months of probation.
- Until September this year, the Radosti family from Florida held the record for the largest illegal grow operation in the county, with 690 plants and 50 pounds of marijuana. In a plea deal, Doug Radosti admitted to a single charge of cultivation of more than 30 plants, receiving two years of probation, in exchange for charges against his 23-year-old son, Warren, being dropped. His wife, Stephanie Radosti, also pleaded guilty to cultivation and received a deferred jail sentence.
- Virgilio Miranda was connected to six other Florida natives found to be growing 214 marijuana plants across five rental properties. He pleaded guilty to cultivation and was sentenced to three years of probation. Two accomplices pleaded to the same charge and received deferred sentences.
- Vanessa Bebeau, so far, is the only person to plead to possession with intent to distribute, but she still received a deferred prison sentence. She was found to be using an indoor swimming pool to support 184 plants and had 10 to 15 pounds of packaged marijuana.
Taylor said he's happy with any prosecution against a drug that has largely been decriminalized across the country, with more states approving medical and recreational use in this month's election. Many district attorneys in Colorado won't touch cases involving marijuana grows "because they're afraid of jury nullification," Taylor said, but Pueblo County District Attorney Jeff Chostner does.
Chostner did not respond to multiple Gazette requests for comment.
"The message I'm trying to get out to those who would come to Pueblo County to illegally grow marijuana is, 'Don't come here,'" Taylor said. "We're going to continue doing what we're doing. My goal is to get them out of Pueblo County."
Illegal grows on decline?
Taylor said he believes Pueblo authorities have not encountered any of the 37 arrested a second time.
He said illegal grow operations are slowing, mainly because more growers are getting the proper medical paperwork to become legal before law enforcement shuts them down. Where deputies used to bust about every other operation they encountered, now it's about one in five, he said.
Of the 107 grow operations they've checked on this year, only the 23 resulting in the 37 arrests have been illegal, Taylor said. That's because more operations are supported by extended plant counts, he said.
About 81,000 of the state's 102,316 medical marijuana licenses allow for plant count extensions between one to six plants, according to September statistics provided by the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment. But 3,838 patients and caregivers were authorized to grow between 76 to 100 plants, and one person was approved for more than 100 plants, the statistics show.
El Paso County has the highest number of medical license holders in the state with 19,330. Pueblo has 3,968, and almost everyone busted for an illegal grow there claimed to hold one of those cards.
Some did.
Jeremiah Bryant had a valid medical license and paperwork to support an extended 99-plant count but was arrested on suspicion of possession and cultivation when authorities found more than three times that - 340 plants - in his 1240 Walden Circle home.
"OK, so I'm over on my plants, can I just get rid of them?" Bryant asked officers, according to his arrest affidavit.
Ryan Reuting had a medical license allowing him an extended count of 37 plants, but authorities found 120 plants in his 612 Limon Drive home, according to his arrest affidavit.
Carlos Augustine Casias was a legal caregiver for two people, as well as being a cardholder, which allowed for a combined grow of 116 plants, his arrest affidavit said. Authorities found 235 plants in his 2254 40th Lane home.
Cases against the three are pending, with court dates scheduled in December.
But it shows how individuals are using a legal system to support their illegal activities, Taylor said. One way to stop such enterprises is to limit the number of plants permitted per household, rather than per person, he said.
"I think that's going to be the future," Taylor said.
Gov. John Hickenlooper agrees, according to his director of marijuana coordination, Andrew Freedman.
Freedman said they support legislation to limit home grows both in number and location, restricting larger operations to commercial, agricultural or industrial zones. They also seek to use medical marijuana tax revenues to reimburse local law enforcement agencies and district attorney offices for shutting down illegal operations, Freedman said.
"I think we need to put more resources into prosecuting and enforcing our laws," Freedman said. "The more we start to have very clear lines about what is legal and what is not legal, and the more we have resources to show this is larger-scale crime, then I think people might be more understanding, and I think we'll get better convictions and we'll get criminal enterprises to realize that Colorado is not the right state to come to."
A few illegal growers in Colorado could see serious prison time, but not all of them will be prosecuted here.
Seven of the people arrested this year have been indicted by the U.S. District Court for Colorado after police called them a grow syndicate suspected of smuggling drugs out of the state. A bust by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and Pueblo County Sheriff's Office uncovered $7.6 million worth of marijuana and $250,000 worth of butane hash oil products in their possession, arrest documents said.
They face charges for marijuana distribution, but a jury trial has not been set.
Felipe Hurtado Cruz was wanted on six felony warrants out of Georgia for allegedly stealing about 8.9 million hydrocodone tablets when authorities found him in Colorado. He had come to Colorado Springs "to grow marijuana under the pretext of medical marijuana," police said at the time.
Authorities found 537 marijuana plants, firearms, ammunition and cash while raiding three homes and arresting Cruz. Still, his only El Paso County charge, according to court records, was for being a fugitive from the law, and that case was dismissed in September when he was extradited to Georgia.
Charges of theft and tampering with utilities - something illegal grow operations often do to avoid high electric bills and detection - are pending in Douglas County, with Cruz's first appearance scheduled this month.
Other local cases will be tried out of state, where laws are stricter toward marijuana.
Dennis Ugarte and Jaivo Escareno-Chavez were arrested in Cimarron Hills and Yoder on Sept. 1 in a raid involving federal agencies. Scant details have been provided about the bust, but a redacted indictment out of the Southern District of Iowa (where the men are from) said the two were found with more than 50 marijuana plants. An exact number wasn't provided.
Colorado charges against the two were dropped, court records show, but they have been indicted in Iowa on two counts of conspiracy and one count of distributing marijuana. A jury trial is scheduled for Nov. 28 in Des Moines.
Several other important arrests may be in the works.
An operation by Laotian nationals uncovered at the end of September yielded more than 22,400 pounds of marijuana from El Paso, Pueblo, Otero, Bent and Crowley counties. Several people were detained in the raids, but Colorado DEA spokesman Tim Scott said no arrests have been made.
Arrests are expected as the investigation continues, Scott told The Gazette. Agents had to execute the search warrants ahead of definitive charges because offenders were nearing harvest, he explained. The DEA previously told the Gazette the Laotian group was preparing to smuggle marijuana to Texas and Arkansas.
Another major bust involving 14 Chinese nationals in September also has not produced charges. All suspects were arrested on suspicion of possession with intent to distribute, but 9th Judicial District Attorney Sherry Caloia said she decided not to file charges while county and federal agencies investigate.
News Moderator: Katelyn Baker 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: Leniency The Rule For Illegal Marijuana Growers As Long As They Don't Come Back
Author: Kaitlin Durbin
Contact: (719) 632-5511
Photo Credit: None Found
Website: The Gazette
