PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) – A Josephine County man was sentenced to federal prison for illegally growing marijuana and filing false tax returns with the IRS, authorities announced Monday.
The United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Oregon said 52-year-old Steven Shirley was sentenced to two years in prison with five years’ supervised release on December 18. Shirley was also ordered to pay more than $290,000 in restitution to the IRS and more than $12,000 in restitution to the Bureau of Land Management for damaging land with marijuana grows.
The case goes back to 2012, when Shirley began buying Cave Junction properties as president and minister of Earth Peoples Park, an Oregon-based nonprofit religious organization, according to court documents.
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After buying a property, Shirley leased the land to third parties and used profits from the lease to buy more properties, officials said, noting by 2019, he owned or co-owned 21 properties in Josephine County and received at least $400,000 per year through the property leases.
In September 2019, investigators with the Josephine Marijuana Enforcement Team found 16 of Shirley’s properties housed large scale unlicensed marijuana grows.
H/T: www.yahoo.com
