According to Colorado Attorney John Suthers, The Silver Lizard, LLC, wasn't just a Denver medical marijuana dispensary. It was part of a drug ring now accused of distributing marijuana to several other states. Here are the details.
* The 59-count indictment alleges violations of the Colorado Organized Crime Control Act, the Attorney General's office reported.
* Individuals accused of being part of the enterprise include: Tanner John Kimberlin, 29; Jeremy S. Crawford, 23; Kyle Abt, 26; and Leon Cisneros, 49. The individuals, if convicted, face sentences of eight to 24 years.
* According to Suthers' office, Kimberlin and Abt are accused of cultivating marijuana at their homes, acting as suppliers and utilizing members of the enterprise to assist in their harvests.
* Kimberlin is also accused of transporting about 100 pounds of marijuana to Iowa.
* Cisneros, the owner of The Silver Lizard, is suspected of using his position as owner of the dispensary to illegally sell dispensary marijuana to undercover law enforcement officers who told Cisneros the marijuana would be sold to out-of-state college students.
* Cisneros also allegedly diverted $16,000 in state sales tax money from his marijuana dispensary sales, the attorney general's office reported, and provided false information to the Colorado Department of Revenue regarding The Silver Lizard's taxable sales.
* According to the indictment, Crawford is suspected to be the central distributor, coordinating interstate deliveries of marijuana through the United States mail.
* The indictment alleges that individuals "engaged in a pattern of racketeering and conspiracy to receive, buy, sell, deal, cultivate and/or distribute marijuana in Colorado and to distribute the marijuana in Arizona, Florida, Indiana, Iowa, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Mexico, Oregon, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia and the District of Columbia."
* According to The Silver Lizard's website, the dispensary offered "discreet MMJ services" and was open 7 days a week.
* A Facebook page associated with The Silver Lizard stated in a July 20 posting: "We tried to save it, but unfortunately THE SILVER LIZARD IS NO MORE." The posting also stated that most of the staff would now be working at other dispensaries in the area and that there would be special member benefits at those dispensaries for all Silver Lizard members.
* According to Suthers, medical marijuana "was sold out of the back door of a dispensary for distribution of other states." Suthers alleges that Colorado is becoming a "significant exporter of marijuana" to the rest of the country."
* Suthers also referenced a newly released Rocky Mountain High Intensity Trafficking Area study that stated that Colorado's medical marijuana has been diverted to at least 23 states for recreational purposes.
* Included in the study were reports of Craigslist advertisements for medical marijuana from Boulder that resulted in the sale of marijuana to undercover officers who stated they were from out of state and wanted to purchase multiple pounds of marijuana; a medical marijuana caregiver in Colorado shipping the drug to a friend in Louisiana who was not a medical marijuana patient; and a dispensary patient from Thornton selling his medical marijuana to juveniles.
* The next court appearance for the accused will be Sept. 28, 2012, in Douglas County District Court.
