A Missoula man accused of using black market drug connections in Northern California to supply local medical marijuana dispensaries with pot has been indicted on federal charges.
Richard James Biggs, 31, was arrested May 12 after a months-long investigation by drug task force officers in Missoula and Great Falls. Although he was initially charged in state district court, the case was filed in U.S. District Court in Missoula earlier this month.
Authorities arrested Biggs on Interstate 90 while he was returning from a four-day trip to Humboldt County, Calif., and found 74 pounds of marijuana and $39,500 in hundred-dollar bills.
During the search of his Chevy Avalanche, authorities seized four duffel bags containing vacuum-sealed plastic bags of about 20 different strains of marijuana. The types of marijuana strains were written in black marker on the bags, and included names such as Grape Crush, Blue Train Wreck and Willy Wonder.
"The investigation has revealed evidence that the various strains of marijuana match up with the strains of marijuana available from several local medical marijuana dispensaries in the Missoula area," according to charging records filed in Missoula District Court, where the case was initially charged. "It is believed that several local dispensaries have been supplied with marijuana by (Biggs) through his black market deals originating in Northern California."
Authorities later recovered nine additional pounds of marijuana from Biggs' home in the South Hills.
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Just prior to the Northern California trip, investigators in Missoula followed Biggs to a meeting with a medical marijuana caregiver, Victor Hernandez, who is also a partner in a medical marijuana dispensary. Investigators believe Biggs had a business relationship with the caregiver and was illegally supplying pound quantities of marijuana to his dispensary and others. No federal charges have been filed against Hernandez.
Hernandez lived with Biggs prior to Biggs' federal drug conviction in 2004. In that case, Biggs was convicted of marijuana possession with intent to distribute, and served time in a federal prison. The caregiver also drives the Lincoln Navigator that Biggs owned before his arrest in 2004.
Although Biggs has no apparent source of income, he owns houses in Las Vegas and Missoula, and the investigation showed that he flew between Missoula and Las Vegas on a monthly basis between July 2008 and his recent arrest.
At a detention hearing Friday in Missoula, U.S. Magistrate Judge Jeremiah Lynch agreed to release Biggs from the Missoula County jail on electronic monitoring. He will be placed on house arrest at a residence in Billings.
If convicted, Biggs faces a mandatory minimum sentence of five years in prison and up to 40 years, as well as a $2 million fine and at least four years on supervised release. He has pleaded not guilty to federal charges of conspiracy to distribute marijuana and possession with intent to distribute marijuana.
NewsHawk: Ganjarden: 420 MAGAZINE
Source: Missoulian
Author: TRISTAN SCOTT
Contact: Missoulian
Copyright: 2010 Missoulian.com
Website: Missoula man charged with dealing illegal marijuana to medical pot shops
Richard James Biggs, 31, was arrested May 12 after a months-long investigation by drug task force officers in Missoula and Great Falls. Although he was initially charged in state district court, the case was filed in U.S. District Court in Missoula earlier this month.
Authorities arrested Biggs on Interstate 90 while he was returning from a four-day trip to Humboldt County, Calif., and found 74 pounds of marijuana and $39,500 in hundred-dollar bills.
During the search of his Chevy Avalanche, authorities seized four duffel bags containing vacuum-sealed plastic bags of about 20 different strains of marijuana. The types of marijuana strains were written in black marker on the bags, and included names such as Grape Crush, Blue Train Wreck and Willy Wonder.
"The investigation has revealed evidence that the various strains of marijuana match up with the strains of marijuana available from several local medical marijuana dispensaries in the Missoula area," according to charging records filed in Missoula District Court, where the case was initially charged. "It is believed that several local dispensaries have been supplied with marijuana by (Biggs) through his black market deals originating in Northern California."
Authorities later recovered nine additional pounds of marijuana from Biggs' home in the South Hills.
***
Just prior to the Northern California trip, investigators in Missoula followed Biggs to a meeting with a medical marijuana caregiver, Victor Hernandez, who is also a partner in a medical marijuana dispensary. Investigators believe Biggs had a business relationship with the caregiver and was illegally supplying pound quantities of marijuana to his dispensary and others. No federal charges have been filed against Hernandez.
Hernandez lived with Biggs prior to Biggs' federal drug conviction in 2004. In that case, Biggs was convicted of marijuana possession with intent to distribute, and served time in a federal prison. The caregiver also drives the Lincoln Navigator that Biggs owned before his arrest in 2004.
Although Biggs has no apparent source of income, he owns houses in Las Vegas and Missoula, and the investigation showed that he flew between Missoula and Las Vegas on a monthly basis between July 2008 and his recent arrest.
At a detention hearing Friday in Missoula, U.S. Magistrate Judge Jeremiah Lynch agreed to release Biggs from the Missoula County jail on electronic monitoring. He will be placed on house arrest at a residence in Billings.
If convicted, Biggs faces a mandatory minimum sentence of five years in prison and up to 40 years, as well as a $2 million fine and at least four years on supervised release. He has pleaded not guilty to federal charges of conspiracy to distribute marijuana and possession with intent to distribute marijuana.
NewsHawk: Ganjarden: 420 MAGAZINE
Source: Missoulian
Author: TRISTAN SCOTT
Contact: Missoulian
Copyright: 2010 Missoulian.com
Website: Missoula man charged with dealing illegal marijuana to medical pot shops
