DENVER—Federal prosecutors have charged three family members accused of running a marijuana business in Denver, plus the owner of a warehouse where authorities say they grew the pot.
Ha Do, 48; his 21-year-old son, Nathan Do; his 44-year-old brother, Hai Do; and warehouse owner Richard Crosse, 48, are charged with distribution and possession with intent to distribute marijuana, the U.S. attorney’s office in Denver said Friday.
Ha Do and Nathan Do were being held pending hearings scheduled Wednesday, but Hai Do and Crosse were at large Friday evening, U.S. attorney’s spokesman Jeff Dorschner said.
Prosecutors say Hai Do owned the business, Ha Do was general manager, Nathan Do was the grower, and Crosse invested about $325,000 in the business and shared in profits and expenses.
Colorado law allows for limited amounts of marijuana possession for medical reasons, but marijuana remains illegal under federal law.
Investigators say that as of September, the Do family’s business, Earth’s Medicine Inc., didn’t have a state permit to grow marijuana.
The family’s attorney didn’t return a phone message Friday, and Crosse’s number was ringing busy.
Earlier this month, federal authorities in California vowed to shut down dozens of pot growing and sales operations there, but the investigation into the Do family’s business started before that.
In June, Denver police seized about 1,865 plants, more than 70 pounds of processed marijuana, and grow equipment from the warehouse linked to the Do family and Crosse, according to an affidavit.
This week, police and federal drug enforcement agents seized about 1,100 plants there. Agents then followed a truck leaving the warehouse to another location, where they seized about 2,500 more plants.
“In this case the defendants had full knowledge that their conduct was illegal under federal law after law enforcement seized their marijuana plants and equipment in June,” U.S. Attorney John Walsh said in a written statement. “The fact that the defendants then returned to the same warehouse to start another illegal marijuana grow operation demonstrates that they were flaunting the law.”
