Vermont man grew pot because he thought it’d be legal soon, police say

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ST. ALBANS, Vt. — Vermont police have arrested a man who acknowledged growing marijuana to prepare for possible statewide legalization of the drug.

St. Albans police say they came across Michael Marshall while investigating a hunting violation. Marshall fled into a house after a confrontation with police, and then consented to a search of the residence. Police say they then found and seized 13 full-grown marijuana plants and 27 smaller plants.

Police say Marshall told them he thought…

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4 get federal prison for conspiring to ship Colorado pot

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PUEBLO — Four men who conspired to grow marijuana in Colorado to sell it in Florida have been sentenced to federal prison terms.

The Pueblo Chieftain reports that the men were arrested in March 2016 in one of multiple raids conducted last year in Pueblo County.

The ring leader, Dennis Rodriguez, was sentenced to the longest term — 2 ½ years in prison — on Thursday. Judge R. Brooke Jackson sentenced Rodriguez’s brother Angel and Daniel Bingham to 14 months and sentenced Nathaniel…

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DEA asks Colorado AG’s office for info on marijuana crimes, “for the new administration”

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Amid speculation about how the Trump administration will confront marijuana legalization in states such as Colorado, a Drug Enforcement Administration supervisor has sent an e-mail to a prosecutor in the state attorney general’s office seeking information, “for the new administration.”

The e-mail was sent early last month by a supervisor on the financial investigations team in the DEA’s Denver field office to Michael Melito, a senior assistant attorney general. The e-mail asks for…

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Eight of 16 people indicted in Colorado marijuana trafficking operation listed as having state pot licenses

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Eight of the 16 people indicted on charges they ran a massive illicit marijuana operation that sold and shipped weed out of state are listed in Colorado records as having active or expired licenses to work in the legal pot business.

Michael Alan Stonehouse, the alleged ringleader, has an active “key” license — for operating a marijuana business — that is valid until November 2018, Marijuana Enforcement Division records show. That’s despite a past felony conviction and state…

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Arapahoe County judge keeps $1 million bail for accused leader of pot trafficking ring

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An Arapahoe County judge refused Thursday to reduce the $1 million bail for a man accused of leading a ring suspected of illegally growing marijuana and selling it out-of-state, despite objections from his lawyer, who called the bust politically motivated.

Christopher Decker, a lawyer for Michael Stonehouse, accused 18th Judicial District Attorney George Brauchler, who is considered a possible GOP candidate for governor in 2018, of inflating the seriousness of the crime to elevate his…

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Second person pleads guilty in connection with 2015 Pierce marijuana-smuggling deaths

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Samantha Simmons

Provided photo

Samantha Simmons

A second person pleaded guilty Wednesday in connection with a 2015 double killing that Weld prosecutors say was tied to an ill-fated marijuana-smuggling operation.

Samantha Simmons, 27, pleaded guilty to being an accessory to a crime in a plea deal in which she will cooperate with prosecutors and testify. Weld District Court Judge Thomas Quammen also dismissed the 10 charges she initially faced, including first-degree murder.

Simmons was one of five people…

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At least 20 times this decade, marijuana SWAT raids turned deadly

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Since 2010, at least 20 SWAT raids involving suspected marijuana dealers have turned deadly, according to data compiled by the New York Times.

The list of fatalities includes small-time dealers and people who sold the occasional joint to a friend, as well as people suspected of dealing in more serious drugs like crack or meth, but who were found to be in possession of only marijuana after the fact. It also includes four police officers who were killed during the raids, intentionally or…

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16 people indicted in massive home-grown marijuana operation across Denver area

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CENTENNIAL — Sixteen people have been indicted on charges they ran a massive home-grown marijuana operation across the Denver metro area that produced hundreds of pounds of pot each month for distribution across the country.

Authorities say over about three years, the ring used houses and properties in places like Colorado Springs, Castle Rock, Elbert County and Denver, to cultivate the cannabis and then make high-dollar deals to sell it in Illinois, Arkansas, Minnesota and Missouri.

An…

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Drug busts underway in Denver metro area are aimed at growers shipping weed out of state

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Local authorities are busting members of a suspected ring that has been growing and distributing pot out-of-state, a Drug Enforcement Agency spokesman in the Denver office said Thursday morning.

The DEA is assisting in the raids, which are an outgrowth of an investigation by the 18th Judicial District.

All warrants are under seal, the DEA spokesman said. The organization has allegedly been growing and shipping marijuana out-of-state in violation of state and federal laws.

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Weaving car in Grand Junction leads police to find 2 pounds of marijuana, magic mushrooms and an assault rifle

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A car weaving on Interstate 70 near Grand Junction led police to find more than 2 pounds of marijuana, psilocybin mushrooms and two firearms, including an assault rifle in the vehicle on Tuesday night.

A Grand Junction police officer saw a red Chevrolet Impala approaching the Clifton exit on I-70 around 10 p.m. The vehicle was weaving over the fog line on the road, according to police. When the officer tried to stop the sedan, the driver failed to yield.

The vehicle was spotted again and…

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Federal marijuana law enforcement: What you need to know about potential strategies

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No official federal policy change toward marijuana has been made –—yet.

Under the specter of a potential crackdown, officials in recreational marijuana states have been proactive in recent days, including Colorado Attorney General Cynthia Coffman inviting Department of Justice head Jeff Sessions to take a firsthand look at America’s longest-operating recreational market, and Oregon lawmakers introducing a bill to protect consumers’ privacy.

What’s the next step for the feds? The Cannabist…

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Denver police say hash oil was being made at “possible meth lab” near University of Denver

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Jordan Stone

Provided by the Denver Police Department

Jordan Stone

Denver police say they found an apparent hash oil production operation at a home near the University of Denver on Thursday afternoon that they initially said was being investigated as a possible methamphetamine laboratory.

Jordan Stone, 26, was arrested on suspicion of hazardously extracting marijuana concentrate, according to police. He was being held Friday without bond at the Downtown Detention Center, jail records show.

Investigators…

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Man was house sitting in Commerce City when his wife’s boyfriend came and killed him, affidavit says

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A 34-year-old man fatally shot last month while he was house sitting in Commerce City died during an apparent gun battle with his wife’s boyfriend, police say.

Christopher Toney

Provided by Adams County Sheriff’s Office

Christopher Toney

According to court documents, Christopher Stockwell was fatally shot in the back of the head by 37-year-old Christopher Toney in an altercation at a home on the on the 9900 block of East 113th Avenue.

An arrest affidavit for Toney says he went to the home to “scare”…

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Fort Collins man arrested after deck fire uncovers marijuana in garage

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Jason Heimann

Larimer County Sheriff’s Office

Jason Heimann

A Fort Collins man has been arrested after a fire at his home uncovered marijuana and marijuana concentrates stored in a garage, according to the Larimer County Sheriff’s Office.

Jason David Heimann, 40, turned himself in at the Larimer County Jail on Saturday. He was booked on a charge of possession with intent to distribute more than 5 pounds of marijuana but not more than 50 pounds, among other charges, the sheriff’s office said in a news…

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Jeff Sessions to Attorneys General: “We don’t need to be legalizing marijuana”

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U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions reiterated his opposition to marijuana legalization while addressing a collection of the nation’s attorneys general on Tuesday.

In responding to a question about the war on drugs, Sessions noted a rise in heroin overdose deaths and those from the painkiller fentanyl. Stating that “crime does follow drugs,” he added that in the 1970s and ’80s, many lives were destroyed by drug abuse, adding that the drugs today are more powerful.

Read the full story at The…

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Arvada man who used post office to distribute marijuana edibles sentenced to a year and a day

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An Arvada man who sent boxes of illegal marijuana edibles through the U.S. Postal Service to buyers in New York City, Maryland and Texas was sentenced Wednesday to a year and one day in federal prison.

Stephen Paul Anderson, a.k.a. “the healthnut,” was also sentenced to serve three years of community supervised release after his prison term.

“Oh boy, you thought this was going to be an easy way to make money, and it is going to cost you your freedom,” U.S. District Judge Christine…

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Jefferson County man shot after marijuana deal goes bad

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Deputies are searching for two suspects after one of them shot a man following a dispute over marijuana late Tuesday night in south Jefferson County, authorities say.

“This was a marijuana deal gone bad. I don’t know if they were haggling over price and it went south,” said Mark Techmeyer, spokesman for the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Department.

Investigators are searching for two men who were driving a car with Ohio license plates, one of whom had a lightning bolt shaved into his…

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Smell of weed in Denver leads feds to bust of Nebraska marijuana network

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An investigation of an alleged interstate crime network all started with an anonymous tip about a pungent odor emanating from a rental home in Westminster.

It was May 2, 2016, harvest time for a lucrative Nebraska-based illegal marijuana network with five pot grow houses and warehouses in Westminster, Dacono, Broomfield and Thornton.

On Thursday, federal prosecutors reaped their own harvest of greenery in Denver U.S. District court after seizing bound and loose stacks of U.S. currency…

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Police say Lafayette house fire may have been sparked by hash-oil explosion

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Firefighters work to put out a structure fire on Modred Street in Lafayette.

Jeremy Papasso, Daily Camera

Firefighters work to put out a structure fire on Modred Street in Lafayette.

The fire at a Lafayette home on Wednesday afternoon that sent two men to a Denver hospital is believed to have been started by a hash-oil explosion, police said Thursday.

When emergency crews responded to the fire they found a “large marijuana cultivation inside of the home,” Lafayette police said and are now investigating the case as a possible hash-oil extraction lab…

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2 Cortez pot shop employees face embezzlement charges

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CORTEZ, Colo. — Two employees at a southwestern Colorado marijuana dispensary are facing felony charges for allegedly stealing from the store.

Police say Timber Higgins and Sheila Castor embezzled more than $12,000 from The Medicine Man marijuana dispensary in Cortez. They’re accused of ringing up phony military discounts of 15 percent, but charging the customers full price and pocketing the difference.

The owner of the dispensary tells the Cortez Journal that she noticed the increase in…

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Richard Kirk, accused in Observatory Park slaying of his wife, pleads guilty to second-degree murder

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Richard Kirk

Denver Police Department

Richard Kirk

A man who claimed that eating marijuana candy led him to shoot his wife to death in their Observatory Park home pleaded guilty Friday to second-degree murder, ending a years-long debate surrounding pot and its possible influence on the slaying.

Richard Kirk, 50, agreed to serve 25 to 30 years in prison as part of his plea, and to relinquish custody of his three children.

Kirk killed his terrified wife, Kristine, as she pleaded with a Denver 911…

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Pueblo County deputies arrest three in connection with illegal, 230-plant marijuana grow

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Pueblo County authorities arrested three people on Monday after a raid on what they say was an illegal, 230-plant marijuana grow at a home.

The county sheriff’s office found the grow after fielding a tip about the operation in the 32000 block of Daniel Road, just south of the Pueblo Memorial Airport. Detectives searched a home and two outbuildings on the property, finding the plants, which were in various stages of growth.

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Three arrested as suspects in Eagle County illegal marijuana ring

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Three people have been arrested in Eagle County as suspects in an interstate marijuana ring.

Hunter Furrow, 29, Nevada Furrow, 37, and Timothy Ezell, 42, all of the Eagle/Vail area were arrested Wednesday when drug task force members served search warrants, according to an Eagle County sheriff’s news release.

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ACLU tells Denver to stop enforcing ejection of suspected drug users from parks

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The ACLU of Colorado demanded the Denver Parks Department stop enforcing a directive authorizing police to eject people suspected of illegal drug activity from city parks, saying it targets homeless people suspected of marijuana use.

The directive violates the Constitution by banning people without a hearing, conviction, or other due process, Mark Silverstein, director of Colorado ACLU, said in the letter sent Wednesday.

“Denver’s program of expelling persons from public parks is an end…

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DEA, El Paso County authorities serve warrants targeting illegal indoor marijuana grows

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Federal agents teamed up with authorities in El Paso County on Monday morning to serve several warrants and make arrests in connection with an out-of-state organization suspected of illegally growing marijuana east of Colorado Springs.

Officials say the pot was being grown indoors in violation of Colorado and federal laws.

Jim Gothe, a spokesman for the Drug Enforcement Administration in Denver, said he could not provide details in the cases because they are under seal. He added that an…

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Bill makes it a crime to advertise marijuana sales without a license

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The state Senate gave initial approval Monday to a measure designed to crack down on advertisements online for illicit marijuana sales.

The bill — Senate Bill 15 — would create a new criminal offense for a person to advertise the sale of marijuana without a retail license. As a level 2 drug misdemeanor, a person convicted would face up to one year in jail and a fine as high as $750.

Sen. Irene Aguilar, a Denver Democrat and the bill sponsor, told lawmakers that more than 690 ads for…

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Man who flew through the air in Eagle County hash oil explosion pleads guilty to arson, DA says

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Ryne Wilhelmi

Provided by 5th Judicial District Attorney’s Office

Ryne Wilhelmi

A 26-year-old man who was tossed into the air by a hash oil explosion he caused in 2015 pleaded guilty this week to fourth-degree arson, a felony charge, and faces up to six years in prison.

Ryne Wilhelmi on Monday admitted causing the the April 29, 2015, explosion.

Wilhelmi was a renting an Eagle County home when he caused a flash fire and explosion while processing marijuana into concentrate, according to the 5th Judicial…

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Five teens arrested in connection with dispensary burglaries in Boulder County

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Five teens ranging in age from 14 to 17 have been arrested in connection with a series of marijuana dispensary burglaries in Boulder County and are also suspected to have burglarized other dispensaries across the state.

The five teens are facing one count of marijuana distribution, five counts of second-degree burglary, attempted burglary, two counts of theft, two counts of criminal mischief, one count of aggravated motor vehicle theft, possession of a handgun by a juvenile and…

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Colorado deputy finds 180 pounds of marijuana mixed in with tractor-trailer’s onion load

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A sheriff’s deputy in southeastern Colorado found just over 180 pounds of marijuana mixed in among a load of onions being hauled by a tractor-trailer last week.

Sam Zordel, sheriff of Prowers County, said the discovery was made Dec. 1 on U.S. 287 near the Gobblers Knob Rest Area, some 20 miles south of Lamar.

The deputy pulled over the truck after its driver allegedly stayed in the highway’s passing lane. Zordel said the tractor-trailer was headed from Brighton to Naples, Fla….

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No charges for man in killing of 17-year-old boy during Adams County marijuana burglary

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Levi Sisneros

Provided by Adams County Sheriff’s Office

Levi Sisneros

Prosecutors have declined to file charges against a man who shot and killed a 17-year-old boy during a September marijuana burglary at an Adams County home, saying that they cannot disprove the shooter was acting in self defense.

Levi Sisneros, 33, was initially arrested on suspicion of first-degree murder in the Sept. 1 shooting near the intersection of 76th Avenue and Pecos Street. Alfredo Chavez died after being shot in the…

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Westminster police seek 16-year-old boy in shooting during botched pot robbery

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Police in Westminster are searching for a 16-year-old boy who allegedly shot a man during a botched marijuana robbery Saturday afternoon.

Investigators say the shooting happened about 1:45 p.m. on the 5700 block of 92nd Avenue in the parking lot of the Madison Hill townhomes complex.

The 19-year-old victim told police he had arranged to sell marijuana to the 16-year-old. When the victim got to the parking lot, the 16-year-old and a man got into his vehicle.

“The 16-year-old suspect…

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Rash of neighborhood burglaries preceded fatal shooting in Denver backyard with marijuana plants

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To some of Keith David Hammock’s neighbors, the kids who had repeatedly hopped his fence to steal marijuana plants were merely doing what teenagers do.

Swiping marijuana plants by the root was a dumb and reckless crime, but not a serious one — and it certainly didn’t justify shooting two boys, said a neighbor who identified himself only as Kevin for fear of retaliation.

But to others living on the 2800 block of High Street and the surrounding neighborhood where Hammock, 48, is…

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U.S. drug czar: The feds have dragged their feet on pot research

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The U.S. government hasn’t really done what it could to further medical marijuana research, the nation’s drug czar says.

Michael Botticelli, the director of national drug control policy for the Obama administration, recently joined Politico’s “Pulse Check” podcast to share his thoughts on the “war on drugs,” addiction and how the government’s relationship with marijuana has evolved.

“I do think it’s a somewhat fair criticism that the government hasn’t fully…

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Former Denver cop faces felony drug charges for illegal marijuana operation

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Hubert “Marty” Vanover

Denver District Attorney’s Office

Hubert “Marty” Vanover

A former Denver Police Department narcotics sergeant has been charged with multiple drug-related felonies in connection with an illegal marijuana operation.

Hubert “Marty” Vanover, 53, was charged with possession with intent to manufacture or distribute marijuana or marijuana concentrate, possession of a controlled substance and two counts of possession of marijuana or marijuana concentrate, according to a news release from…

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Trial for Richard Kirk in Observatory Park slaying set for March 2017

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This undated file photo provided by the Denver Police Department shows Richard Kirk. The Denver man accused of eating marijuana-infused candy he bought at a legal pot shop and then killing his wife while she described her husband's erratic behavior on a 911 call has changed his plea to not guilty by reason of insanity.

Denver Police Department

This undated file photo provided by the Denver Police Department shows Richard Kirk. The Denver man accused of eating marijuana-infused candy he bought at a legal pot shop and then killing his wife while she described her husband’s erratic behavior on a 911 call has changed his plea to not guilty by reason of insanity.

The trial for Richard Kirk, who is accused of shooting and killing his wife, Kristine, in April 2014 at their Observatory Park home, is set for…

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Suspects tried to destroy evidence at massive illegal Garfield County pot grow, warrant says

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Property searched in Garfield County

Federal search warrant

Property searched in Garfield County

When law enforcement officers last week closed in on a massive suspected illegal marijuana grow in Garfield County, they found people trying to destroy evidence at the site off Interstate 70, according to a federal search warrant.

Others were fleeing the area as officers closed in, only to find thousands of plants growing outdoors behind a tall green fence, the document says.

The warrant, reviewed Wednesday by The Denver Post,…

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Feds raid homes across southeast Colorado as part of investigation into marijuana trafficking organization

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Federal agents and local law enforcement simultaneously raided homes across southeast Colorado on Wednesday as part of efforts to break up a major organization growing marijuana for distribution and sale out of state.

A Drug Enforcement Administration official said the agency was working with sheriff’s offices in El Paso, Pueblo, Crowley, Bent and Otero counties on some “big operations” that are linked to one encompassing investigation. Ten of 12 properties searched were rentals,…

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Man gets probation in alleged far-flung illegal marijuana enterprise

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A man once facing the possibility of spending decades in a federal prison after he was tied to an international marijuana-trafficking operation was instead sentenced Tuesday to probation in federal court after felony charges against him were dismissed.

As a condition of probation, U.S. District Judge Robert Blackburn also sentenced Luis Fernand Uribe to 45 days in jail. The probationary deal was offered after the defendant’s original felony charges were dismissed and he pleaded guilty…

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Marijuana arrests fall to lowest level since 1996

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By Christopher Ingraham, The Washington Post

Arrests for simple marijuana possession in the United States fell to nearly a two-decade low last year, according to new statistics released Monday by the FBI.

The number of arrests for marijuana possession in 2015 — 574,641 — is the lowest number since 1996. It represents a 7 percent year-over-year drop, and roughly a 25 percent drop from the peak of close to 800,000 marijuana possession arrests in 2007.

The FBI data suggest that, in…

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Federal government asks judge to dismiss case against David Furtado

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The Acting U.S. Attorney in Colorado has filed a motion to dismiss all drug and money laundering charges against Denver attorney David Furtado, a key figure in one of the biggest criminal pot cases in the state’s legal-marijuana era.

Acting U.S. Attorney Robert C. Troyer requested all charges against Furtado be dismissed without prejudice in a motion on Friday, according to a court document.

“It is respectfully requested that this Court enter an order: dismissing the…

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2 Nebraska men get decades in prison for violent Westminster marijuana robbery

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Two Nebraska men have been sentenced to decades in prison for a violent 2015 marijuana robbery in Westminster, prosecutors say.

David Tatum, 19 , and Spencer Siroky, 24, were respectively ordered to serve 20 years and 27 years behind bars. Both are from Lincoln, Neb.

Authorities say in the early morning hours of July 19, 2015, the pair, along with a third man, robbed a home in Westminster at gunpoint where they tied up and pistol-whipped the homeowners who had been asleep.

During the…

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175 illegal marijuana plants seized from home in eastern El Paso County, sheriff says

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Authorities say they discovered 175 illegal marijuana plants being grown in eastern El Paso County.

County sheriff’s deputies and the El Paso County Sheriff’s SWAT Team found the plants on Wednesday while executing a search warrant at a home on South Blaney Road near Schriever Air Force Base.

During the search of the property, detectives contacted three people associated with the house, the county sheriff’s office said in a Thursday news release. Along with the marijuana,…

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Two men indicted on 169-counts in alleged Denver-area synthetic cannabinoid enterprise

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John Swanson, Michael Whitney

Provided by First Judicial District Attorney

John Swanson, Michael Whitney

Two men have been indicted on 169 counts in an alleged synthetic cannabinoid enterprise that operated in the Denver area and across state lines and which authorities say included the manufacture, distribution and sale of laced herbal cigarettes.

Michael Jamal Whitney, 35, and John Palmer Swanson, 33, are accused of a litany of charges, including violations of the Colorado Organized Crime Control Act.

Other counts…

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El Paso County authorities target illegal marijuana grows in homes, seize 537 plants

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Filipe Hurtado Cruz

Provided by Colorado Springs Police Department

Filipe Hurtado Cruz

Authorities targeting illegal marijuana grows in El Paso County on Thursday made one arrest and seized 537 plants, three guns, ammunition and cash.

The Colorado Springs Police Department says three search warrants were served as part of the operations, two inside the city of Colorado Springs and a third in an unincorporated area of El Paso County.

The Drug Enforcement Administration as well as other area law enforcement…

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Ski-pass fraud, underage pot buyers help double Summit County arrest rates

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Arrests have soared in Breckenridge, Dillon and Silverthorne, where all three police departments have already made more arrests this year than they did in all of 2015. The Summit County Sheriff’s Office is on track to exceed last year’s arrest numbers. Case filings with the district attorney’s office are up roughly 7 percent from last year.

The number of arrests per year per law-enforcement department throughout Summit County.

Summit Daily

The number of arrests per year per law-enforcement department throughout Summit County.

The population of Summit County has…

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Consultant for South Dakota tribe’s pot resort pleads guilty to drug charge

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FLANDREAU, S.D. — One of two consultants who worked with a Native American tribe on its plans to open the nation’s first marijuana resort pleaded guilty Monday to a drug offense stemming from his role in the operation, including ordering pot seeds that were shipped surreptitiously from the Netherlands to the reservation.

Jonathan Hunt, who oversaw the first marijuana crop of the Flandreau Santee Sioux Tribe, entered his guilty plea to a drug conspiracy count in the city of Flandreau,…

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Gunmen rob Arapahoe County marijuana dispensary

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Three men with their faces covered and a woman robbed a Cure Colorado medical marijuana dispensary Sunday afternoon, at least one wielding a gun, then escaped in a white sedan.

No shots were fired in the robbery, reported around 1:56 p.m. “We will not disclose what was taken,” Arapahoe County sheriff’s spokeswoman Julie Brooks said.

Nor would the authorities discuss the type of gun and other details gleaned from witnesses interviewed at the scene, 6200 E. Yale Ave.

“It was an…

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Feds eradicate 5-acre illegal marijuana grow west of Colorado Springs, find 18,300 plants

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Marijuana plants
Marijuana plants

Federal authorities eradicated 18,300 marijuana plants Thursday from an illegal grow operation spanning across about five acres of land in the Pike National Forest west of Colorado Springs.

The U.S. Forest Service says it also seized 2,000 pounds of marijuana growing infrastructure as part of the operation, which centered at a scene about six miles outside of Woodland Park, though an exact location was not provided.

The materials found included irrigation pipe, camping…

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Larimer Sheriff seeks help solving Fort Collins marijuana dispensary parking lot robbery

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The Larimer County Sheiff’s Office is asking the public for help finding suspects who robbed a couple Wednesday night in the parking lot of a Fort Collins marijuana dispensary.

A man and woman reported they were approached by two men in the parking lot of Choice Organics located in the 800 block of Smithfield Drive. One of the suspects said he was armed and then took marijuana the victims had just purchased.

The suspects are described as males in their late teens or early 20s. One is…

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Agents find illegal pot-grow operation tucked in San Isabel National Forest

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Trash and other items found during a raid of an illegal marijuana cultivation in the San Isabel National Forest.
Trash and other items were found during a raid of an illegal marijuana cultivation in the San Isabel National Forest.

A team of federal forestry and homeland security agents working with Huerfano County sheriff’s deputies this week found and destroyed a large illegal marijuana growing operation tucked inside the San Isabel National Forest.

Agents from the U.S. Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management, Department of Homeland Security, the Colorado National Guard and deputies found the…

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