2 Oregon men plead guilty to conspiracy to distribute marijuana to Texas, Virginia and Florida

Marijuana

Cole William Griffiths, 30, of Hood River shipped pot to Florida that was cultivated and stored in homes, trailers and sheds in Hood River. Raleigh Dragon Lau, 33, of Portland manufactured more than 1,000 marijuana plants and conspired with others to ship them to Texas and Virginia for sale, a prosecutor said. (AP Photo)

Two men who grew marijuana in Oregon and shipped it to Texas, Virginia and Florida entered guilty pleas Monday in federal court to marijuana distribution and money laundering conspiracy charges.

Cole William Griffiths, 30, shipped pot to Florida that had been cultivated and stored in homes, trailers and sheds in Hood River.

Griffiths concealed the drug proceeds by smuggling large amounts of cash back to Oregon through the U.S. mail or in passengers’ luggage on commercial flights.

He also hid the proceeds by buying and selling cars, Assistant U.S. Attorney William Narus said.

Agents seized an assortment of cars, trucks, ATVs and heavy equipment as part of the marijuana operation in Hood River, including several pickups, a Corvette, a Porsche Panamera, a John Deere tractor, a bulldozer and hydraulic excavator.

Federal agents also last year seized a 2000 Sealine F44 yacht in Florida that belonged to Griffiths, according to prosecutors.

Raleigh Dragon Lau, 33, of Portland manufactured more than 1,000 marijuana plants in Oregon and conspired with others to ship them for sale in Texas and Virginia, Narus said.

Lau and Griffiths each pleaded guilty to two charges: conspiracy to manufacture and distribute marijuana and conspiracy to commit money laundering. They’ll be sentenced in early August before U.S. District Judge Robert E. Jones.

Two other defendants, Brittany Lesanta Kizzee, 28, of Houston, Texas, and Paul Eugene Thomas, 38, of Portland, have pleaded guilty in the case and are awaiting sentencing. A fifth co-defendant, Trent Lamar Knight, 30, of Houston, is set to plead guilty on May 8. A final co-defendant, Jody Tremayne Wafer, 29, of Houston is set for trial on June 18.

Knight and Wafer also are accused of the gunpoint kidnapping of a Portland warehouse manager whom they suspected of stealing their drug stash on Dec. 2, 2017, when in fact, agents with the Drug Enforcement Administration had secretly raided the storage unit and taken their nearly 500 pounds of marijuana, authorities acknowledged in court.

As part of the drug trafficking investigation, federal authorities seized about 11,000 marijuana plants, 546 pounds of processed marijuana, more than $2.8 million in cash, 51 guns, 26 vehicles, trailers, pieces of heavy equipment, the yacht and three houses used as marijuana grow sites since August 2017.

The homes were at 19 Monticello Drive in Lake Oswego, a duplex at 5635/5639 S.E. 84th Ave. in Portland and a residence at 3826 S.E. 50th Ave. in Portland.

According to court documents, Lake Oswego police in June 2017 alerted the Drug Enforcement Administration of a suspected large-scale marijuana grow operation at the Monticello Drive location.

Federal drug enforcement agents, working with the FBI, Port of Portland police and the Department of Homeland Security and Internal Revenue Service investigated and soon identified other large-scale indoor marijuana grow spots for pot that was being sold out of state.

At a Portland home on Southeast 50th Avenue, for example, surveillance revealed people visiting the property late at night driving luxury vehicles and others arriving with U-Haul trucks, according to a federal affidavit.

None of those charged were licensed by the state to grow marijuana. Oregon’s U.S. Attorney Billy J. Williams has said the prosecutions represent his office’s aim to disrupt "overproduction and the illegal export'' of marijuana out-of-state.

-- Maxine Bernstein

Email at mbernstein@oregonian.com

Follow on Twitter @maxoregonian

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