AURORA | Owners of a chain of metro-area marijuana dispensaries — including one outpost in Aurora — pleaded guilty to illegally selling large amounts of marijuana and violating the state’s racketeering laws in Denver District Court this morning, according to the Denver District Attorney’s Office.
The three owners of Sweet Leaf, which at one point had nearly a dozen marijuana dispensaries spread across the metro area, each entered a guilty plea to two charges in exchange for a sentence of one year in prison, one year parole and one year of probation, according to the Denver DA’s office.
A Denver District Court Judge accepted the plea agreements this morning from 40-year-old Matthew Aiken, 50-year-old Christian Johnson, and 33-year-old Anthony Sauro.
The pleas concluded a years-long investigation into the marijuana chain, including multiple police raids at local stores and several other arrests.
A pair of former Sweet Leaf managers, 33-year-old Ashley Goldstein and 32-year-old Nichole West entered a separate plea deal in November, according to Denver prosecutors. The two women have since helped state and federal officials with the ongoing investigation.
A tipster first reported Sweet Leaf employees were regularly selling the maximum amount of pot to customers multiple times a day — which is illegal under state law — in a coordinated “looping” scheme.
“This case began thanks to a watchful citizen who observed the same people making multiple purchases of marijuana from a single Sweet Leaf dispensary in one day and tipped off the Denver Police Department,” Denver District Attorney Beth McCann said in a statement. “The vast majority of Denver’s marijuana industry businesses and owners are reputable and responsible and strive to obey our marijuana laws. However, Sweet Leaf is an exception.”
At least 10 other people have been indicted by a Denver grand jury for their roles in the so-called “looping” case.
Sweet Leaf’s parent companies also pleaded guilty to racketeering and tax evasion charges. The two firms will each have to pay a $125,000 fine and hand over remaining assets to the U.S. Department of Justice.
Officers from the Aurora Police Department also helped investigate Sweet Leaf, which formerly had a store at the intersection of East Sixth Avenue and Chambers Road. But that shop has been shuttered for about a year, according to Robin Peterson, manager of Aurora’s Marijuana Enforcement Division.
“That location is sitting idle for now,” Peterson said.
A third party is currently helping sell Sweet Leaf’s marijuana business license in Aurora — one of only 24 such licenses issued by the city — to a new vendor, according to Peterson.
Peterson said the third-party firm is already in talks with a potential buyer.
While she didn’t specify the exact company, Peterson said the buyer would be a new marijuana entity in the city.