Pubdate: Mon, 08 Oct 2012 Source: Register-Guard, The (OR) Copyright: 2012 The Register-Guard Contact: http://www.registerguard.com/web/opinion/#contribute-a-letter Website: http://www.registerguard.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/362 Author: Jack Moran Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/af.htm (Asset Forfeiture) LANE COUNTY SEEKS TO KEEP $60,000, OTHER PROPERTY SEIZED IN MEDICAL MARIJUANA CASE Lane County authorities want to keep $60,000 in cash, a sport utility vehicle and an ATM machine seized from a medical marijuana club owner whose Eugene dispensary was shut down after a police raid on Aug. 30. Attorneys for the county last week filed a civil forfeiture complaint in Lane County Circuit Court that alleges the confiscated cash and property was connected to a criminal drug enterprise involving Curtis Shimmin, who was arrested on marijuana and money laundering charges on the night of the raid. Shimmin ran his medical marijuana "resource center," Kannabosm, at 401 W. 11th Ave. for more than one year before drug agents took him into custody and emptied his club of pot intended for distribution to state-registered medical marijuana cardholders. That same night, detectives also seized an ATM machine from the business, along with cash and Shimmin's Toyota SUV. Shimmin, 58, has not been convicted of a crime and, in fact, has yet to appear in court on any formal allegations -- though his attorney expects he will be charged at some point. "It seems that what (authorities) have done already would certainly indicate that they are preparing to charge him," Eugene attorney Brian Michaels said. Michaels said the seized cash and property were "not part of any illegal activity" and that the Shimmin case is part of a broader "war on medical marijuana." Kannabosm is one of three dispensaries raided by local authorities in Oregon in recent weeks. The others operated in Washington and Malheur counties. Dozens of similar medical marijuana outlets remain open elsewhere across the state. Patty Perlow, Lane County's chief deputy district attorney, said the county would not expect to receive a court judgment in its favor in the forfeiture case unless Shimmin is eventually convicted of related criminal charges. Civil process "cleaner" In recent years, county prosecutors typically sought to have confiscated drug money and property forfeited to the government as part of the criminal process. But handling forfeiture issues separately, as a civil matter, "is cleaner, especially when there may be more than one person with interest" in the property, Perlow said. In Shimmin's case, the ATM machine that detectives with the county's Interagency Narcotics Enforcement Team seized from Kannabosm during the raid may be owned by someone other than Shimmin, Perlow said. Documents filed with the court show that detectives also confiscated $7,180 in cash from the ATM, along with $6,746 from Shimmin's bank accounts. An additional $46,711 in cash was seized from Shimmin's 2008 Toyota FJ Cruiser, according to court documents. The ATM, the vehicle and all of the cash would be forfeited to the county if a judge or jury determines the property was connected to a criminal drug operation. In that event, the proceeds would be used to fund the criminal investigation and prosecution of the case. Any remaining funds would then be distributed to a variety of state and county programs. A search warrant affidavit filed in court by state police Detective David Glass details the Kannabosm investigation, which began after a confidential informant told authorities in October 2011 that medical marijuana cardholders were purchasing pot from Shimmin's club at "street level prices" after paying a membership fee, according to the affidavit. The informant became a Kannabosm member and subsequently purchased marijuana from Shimmin's business four times, using the interagency drug team's funds to buy the marijuana while under detectives' surveillance, according to the affidavit. While medical marijuana is legal in Oregon, its sale is considered illegal. Patients who don't grow their own pot may find someone else to grow it for them. Growers may only recoup the costs of producing marijuana, and they are not allowed to make a profit. Marijuana use of any kind remains illegal under federal law. "Storage and handling" Besides accusing Shimmin of illegally distributing marijuana, police suspect he has used his bank accounts to hide or "launder" the proceeds of allegedly illicit drug sales, Glass wrote in the affidavit. As part of the investigation, police found no history of Shimmin paying taxes or being employed in Oregon between January 2006 and May 2011, according to the affidavit. Shimmin purchased three separate properties in the Umpqua and Winston areas of Douglas County between 2004 and 2009. The combined purchase prices of those properties totaled $392,900, according to the affidavit. In addition to the raid at Kannabosm, detectives served search warrants at two of the Douglas County properties owned by Shimmin. Warrants issued in connection with the case also were served at a home at 572 W. Broadway in Eugene and at a marijuana "grow site and processing warehouse" at 497 Hwy. 99 in Eugene, police said. During an August 2011 interview with The Register-Guard, Shimmin said he and his attorneys were of the opinion that cash-for-pot transactions that occurred at Kannabosm were not technically sales, and therefore not illegal in Oregon. Shimmin said much of the money paid by Kannabosm members for access to marijuana worked to reimburse growers for supplies and electricity used to produce the buds. In return, growers return a "small amount" of cash to Kannabosm for "storage and handling," Shimmin said. Under state law, patients may give excess marijuana to another cardholder. Shimmin said last year that all of the marijuana available at Kannabosm is excess pot that growers are left with after their patients take what they need. By allowing their growers to pass along marijuana to the club, patients are essentially giving it to other cardholders, Shimmin said. More than 5,700 people in Lane County are registered medical marijuana patients, according to statistics kept by the state agency that administers the program. - --- MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom