Federal authorities are close to resolving a years-long investigation into a Front Range hydroponics gardening store owner and a network of basement marijuana grows, according to court records."The parties continue to be engaged in settlement negotiations and believe that a settlement is eminent as part of a global resolution involving criminal charges as well," federal prosecutors wrote in a Dec. 3 status update filing in one of the forfeiture cases.
Both Jeff Dorschner, a spokesman for the U.S. Attorney's office in Denver, and Mike Turner, a Drug Enforcement Administration spokesman, declined to comment on the case.
Jeralyn Merritt, an attorney for Inniss, said in a statement: "Mr. Inniss, Way to Grow and the Government have expended considerable time and effort over the past year to resolve their legal differences. We anticipate a full resolution within the next few months. Way to Grow will continue to operate in full compliance with the law."
The investigation details appear in court documents in two asset forfeiture cases filed in federal District Court in Denver.
In the first case, federal prosecutors are seeking to seize five houses — one in Windsor, one in Erie and three in Fort Collins — where the growing operations are alleged to have been housed. In the second case, prosecutors are trying to seize $48,900 found at one of the houses.
In October 2009, federal agents raided nine houses connected with the case and seized 981 mature and starter marijuana plants, according to the documents.
The attorney for one of the alleged growers, Martin Pieper, asserted in one case filing that any cultivation at Pieper's house complied with Colorado's medical-marijuana laws.
Pieper's attorney, Joseph Saint-Veltri, declined to elaborate when reached by telephone.
