Pubdate: Thu, 02 Oct 2014
Source: Denver Post (CO)
Copyright: 2014 The Denver Post Corp
Contact:  http://www.denverpost.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/122
Author: Kirk Mitchell
Page: 1A

PAPERS DETAIL DENVER POT RAID

Hundreds of Pounds of the Drug, Jewelry and $800,000were Seized From 
Firms With Colombian Ties.

Federal agents seized hundreds of pounds of marijuana, 161 pieces of 
jewelry and $800,000- including nearly $450,000 stashed in the trunk 
of a car-from Colorado pot businesses with Colombian ties, according 
to records obtained Wednesday by The Denver Post.

The forfeiture document, in which federal authorities formally seek 
to confiscate the items, offers the most detailed account yet of the 
allegations stemming from Denver-area raids executed in November. 
They were the largest-ever federal raids on the Colorado marijuana industry.

The document alleged that those indicted- Denver attorney David 
Furtado, marijuana business owner Gerardo Uribe, his brother and 
business associate Luis Uribe and Colombian national Hector Diaz- 
participated in a scheme that grew marijuana in Colorado, shipped pot 
to Chicago and Florida and smuggled cash to Colombia.

The men were indicted in connection with the Nov. 21 raids. Each 
could face 20 years in prison if convicted of the most serious 
charges facing them. The defendants have pleaded not guilty.

Messages left by The Post for Furtado and Luis Uribewere not 
immediately returned. Jeff Dorschner, spokesman for U.S. Attorney 
John Walsh, said he could not comment because of pending litigation.

The document spells out how federal authorities relied on a web of 
confidential informants who reported on the activities of Furtado and others.

At one point, one of the conspirators complained he had accumulated 
$1 million cash and needed a way to launder the money, according to 
the document. Furtado allegedly began funneling proceeds from about a 
dozen Colorado medical marijuana dispensaries into a Colombian bank 
account in undetectable amounts.

The document indicates that federal agents confiscated various 
amounts of cash from bank accounts and medical marijuana businesses 
and $449,980 found in the trunk of Furtado's car. Agents also seized 
five watches, including a Rolex purchased in Las Vegas for $11,050 
cash; 161 pieces of jewelry; 1.8 million in Colombian pesos ($883); a 
2010 Jeep Wrangler; and 2007 Hummer H3.

The Internal Revenue Service, Drug Enforcement Administration and 
Denver police on Jan. 1, 2011, began a joint investigation into the 
operations of the "Uribe/ Furtado marijuana distribution network."

In July 2010, alleged conspirators started to buy numerous medical 
marijuana dispensaries, including VIP Cannabis, 2527 Federal Blvd. in 
Denver, and Grateful Meds, 110 Snyder St. in Nederland.

Someone whom Furtado recruited to start a residential grow operation 
became a confidential informant. The informant told agents that 
Furtado was "a master grower" who honed his skills in college with 
classmates and was planning to get out of law because of the 
lucrative pot business.

The informant said Furtado believed 10 marijuana harvests were 
diverted for sales outside Colorado and were not sold in medical 
marijuana dispensaries. Furtado recruited another person to grow 
marijuana in warehouses in September 2010, the document said. This 
person also became an informant.

A third source also said the marijuana was transported out of 
Colorado, according to the filing. This source overheard Furtado once 
arranging to have marijuana flown to Florida to be sold illegally on 
the streets. Furtado tried to get the source to sell pot illegally, 
court records indicate.

An undercover agent overheard Joseph Tavares, the manager of Grateful 
Meds, say that alleged coconspirator Gerardo Uribe was clearing about 
$500,000 a month, documents say.

In August 2013, a fourth confidential source sent a $9,000 wire 
transfer to Colombia as a test to see whether the money could be 
traced. Last October, Gerardo Uribe told the informant he had 
"accumulated too much cash"- a total of $1 million - and needed help 
laundering the money. The informant said he could transport the money by air.

On Nov. 21, agents seized 13,524 marijuana plants, 750 pounds of 
processed marijuana and 2,500 pounds of marijuana products such as 
edibles and lotions, the document says. They also seized 30 gallons 
of hash oil, 11 assault rifles, a shotgun and 10 handguns.

A fifth confidential source told agents that Shawn Masad - a partner 
with Gerardo Uribe, the owner of VIP Wellness Center, which grossed 
$1.4 million in 2011 - told him he intended to transport a harvest 
from 100 pot plants to Chicago for illegal sales. The informant was 
asked to take the pot to Chicago.

Although VIP stores had sales totaling about $720,000 in 2011, 
Furtado told a source that they were showing a profit of $3 million, 
according to the document.

On Oct. 31, a surveillance officer saw Furtado leaving VIP with two 
large brown sacks. Denver police made a traffic stop and found nearly 
$450,000 in the trunk. Furtado, who gave the detective permission to 
search his trunk, told the officer the money was to be used to buy a 
metal business.

Furtado later called the officer and admitted he had lied about what 
the money was to be used for, but he said the money was not his and 
that it was needed to buy a warehouse that was to be used as a 
marijuana grow operation. He said they stood to lose $1.7 million in 
earnest money he already had paid in the warehouse deal.

The document says Colombian investor Ricardo Moises Pedrosa financed 
several of the grow operations with electronic wire transfers from 
Colombia to Colorado. Profits from the businesswere funneled back to 
him through a business called THMS Properties LLC, the document says.

On Jan. 26, 2012, Pedrosa sent two wire transfers, one for $100,000 
and another for $300,000, to a Bank of the West account in the name 
of Furtado's law firm. The next day, wire transfers totaling $300,000 
went from the law firm to VIP Wellness Center's West Denver Community 
Credit Union account.

On Sept. 12, 2012, Pedrosa e-mailed to Gerardo Uribe a message in 
Spanish titled "THMS Properties pay dates." It explained that 
$370,000 payments were to be made on the 15th of every month.

Another Colombian entity called Soluri Consulting funneled 
international funds to Uribe's dispensaries with check memos 
"VIP/REMEDY," the document said.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom