Feb. 22—Double digit charges last fall in Garvin County, followed by a multi-county grand jury indictment, now has the state attorney general's office deciding to step in and prosecute a Canadian County attorney accused of illegal marijuana business practices.

The announcement came last week as Matt Stacy, 43, an attorney with a law firm in Yukon, is accused of recruiting people to falsely play the role of majority owner of several marijuana grow sites in the state.

A total of 13 state felony charges were filed against Stacy in October right here in Garvin County District Court.

During his initial court arraignment on the charges Stacy was released on his recognizance as prosecutors requested a $100,000 bond.

Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond released a statement last week his office will take over the prosecution of Stacy in this case.

"Illegal marijuana grows are causing an alarming influx of organized crime throughout Oklahoma, mostly run by Chinese nationals," Drummond said in a prepared statement.

"Any Oklahoman who partners with these criminals and enables their illicit dealings will be held accountable."

A court affidavit filed with last year's state charges in Garvin County claims Stacy acted as a registered agent for more than 300 LLCs that sought commercial licenses to grow and sell medical marijuana.

Agents with the Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics (OBN) say Stacy paid residents to be "ghost owners" of grow operations for Chinese organized crime operations and other out-of-state clients.

Those same agents say the method is intended to evade laws that require Oklahoma residents to own at least 75 percent of a grow operation in the state.

That accusation was the same coming from Garvin County Assistant District Attorney Corey Miner after Stacy was initially arraigned in October.

"He was recruiting false owners of these sites that were illegally growing marijuana," Miner said at the time.

"This is a much bigger scope because he's accused of doing this in several counties."

In some cases Miner said an OBN investigation showed a few people claimed they didn't know they were being listed as the site's majority owner.

Going back even further it was last June when two Tulsa attorneys were formally accused of using their own employees to pose as majority owners of around 400 grow sites in the state, including at least one in Garvin County.

The cases against both Logan Jones, 56, and Eric Brown, 41, are also expected to be prosecuted by the state attorney general's office.