Hector Diaz, the Colombian national who pleaded guilty for his role in a 2013 federal drug sweep of marijuana businesses in Denver, was sentenced Thursday to 18 months. He was also ordered by U.S. District Judge Robert Blackburn to return to Columbia “as soon as possible” and was placed on three years supervised probation.
In addition, Diaz, who testified against his co-defendants in the case, was fined $5,000. As part of a , Diaz previously agreed to forfeit more than $400,000 he had invested in what he thought was a legitimate marijuana business.
Blackburn commented on how the case pointed out the divergent interests of the federal government, which doesn’t recognize the legality of marijuana, and the state of Colorado, which has turned pot into a legalized growth industry.
In , federal agents raided more than a dozen dispensaries and grow warehouses in Denver, Commerce City and Boulder County.
Diaz was accused, along with brothers Gerardo and Luis Uribe and attorney David Furtado, of conspiring to funnel money from Colombia to buy a large warehouse for growing pot.
