Indictment: Denver Marijuana Dispensary Part Of Illegal Pot Ring

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The Colorado Attorney General's office has obtained a 59-count indictment against 11 people on allegations of running a multi-state marijuana-distribution ring that included black-market sales from a medical-marijuana dispensary.

In the indictment, released Monday, the Attorney General's office accuses the 11 of violations of the Colorado Organized Crime Control Act . The indictment accuses the group of moving hundreds of pounds of marijuana through the U.S. mail and on the ground to states from Arizona to Florida to Massachusetts.

At least 40 pounds of that marijuana, according to the indictment, is alleged to have come from the Silver Lizard dispensary in Denver. The dispensaries' manager, Leon Cisneros, is also accused of skipping out on $16,000 in taxes owed from medical-marijuana sales and of falsifying documents to cover his trail.

A phone call to the dispensary Monday was not successful.

In announcing the indictment, Colorado Attorney General John Suthers said the ring is another example of diversion from the medical-marijuana industry that was highlighted in a report earlier this month from an organization of drug investigators.

"It is becoming clear that, as predicted in 2010 legislative hearings, Colorado is becoming a significant exporter of marijuana to the rest of the country," Suthers said in a statement.

The indictment accuses the ring of operating as far back as 2008. The first instances of marijuana distribution actually alleged in the indictment occurred in early 2009.

According to the indictment, some members of the ring grew marijuana in their homes. But, between Jan. 1 and May 26 of this year, one ring member is alleged to have gotten more than 40 pounds of marijuana from the Silver Lizard to sell into the black market. Cisneros was told that some of that marijuana was to be sent to Cincinnati, according to the indictment.

In addition to Cisneros and the Silver Lizard, those charged in the indictment include Tanner John Kimberlin, Jeremy S. Crawford, Corinne N. Kimberlin, Austin Hunter, Kyle Abt, Jack Jagla, Drew Hickok, Michael Bazzone, Nicholas Uchenick and David Schmidt.

This is not the first time medical-marijuana dispensaries in Colorado have been linked to black-market sales.

A dispensary in Carbondale was shut down last year and its owner arrested after police said an undercover officer was able to buy cocaine there. A dispensary in Denver was also shuttered and three of its owners charged with federal crimes for allegedly operating an off-the-books marijuana-cultivation warehouse. And the former owner of a Lafayette dispensary was arrested after allegedly trying to sell 10 pounds of marijuana to a police informant.

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News Hawk- TruthSeekr420 420 MAGAZINE
Source: denverpost.com
Author: John Ingold
Contact: Contact Us - The Denver Post
Website: Indictment: Denver marijuana dispensary part of illegal pot ring - The Denver Post
 
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