Boxes taken from a vehicle stopped in January that was initially reported to be carrying nearly 1,600 pounds of marijuana. A crime lab report showed the total to be closer to 25 pounds and 2 pounds of THC concentrate.
Boxes taken from a vehicle stopped in January that was initially reported to be carrying nearly 1,600 pounds of marijuana. A crime lab report showed the total to be closer to 25 pounds and 2 pounds of THC concentrate.
Boxes taken from a vehicle stopped in January that was initially reported to be carrying nearly 1,600 pounds of marijuana. A crime lab report showed the total to be closer to 25 pounds and 2 pounds of THC concentrate.
Boxes taken from a vehicle stopped in January was initially reported to be carrying nearly 1,600 pounds of marijuana. A crime lab report showed the total to be closer to 25 pounds and 2 pounds of THC concentrate.
Courtesy of the law office of Stephen Laiche
Boxes taken from a vehicle stopped in January that was initially reported to be carrying nearly 1,600 pounds of marijuana. A crime lab report showed the total to be closer to 25 pounds and 2 pounds of THC concentrate.
Boxes taken from a vehicle stopped in January that was initially reported to be carrying nearly 1,600 pounds of marijuana. A crime lab report showed the total to be closer to 25 pounds and 2 pounds of THC concentrate.
Boxes taken from a vehicle stopped in January that was initially reported to be carrying nearly 1,600 pounds of marijuana. A crime lab report showed the total to be closer to 25 pounds and 2 pounds of THC concentrate.
Boxes taken from a vehicle stopped in January was initially reported to be carrying nearly 1,600 pounds of marijuana. A crime lab report showed the total to be closer to 25 pounds and 2 pounds of THC concentrate.
Courtesy of the law office of Stephen Laiche
A crime lab analysis of the contents of a van Colorado State Patrol claimed contained 1,598 pounds of marijuana found that the van actually contained 25.3 pounds of marijuana flower and 2.16 pounds of THC concentrate.
The case against Zhiyu Liu, 50, of California, drew attention not only because of the size of the initially reported seizure, but also because of the decision not to prosecute the offense. Liu faced a charge of possession of more than 50 pounds of marijuana with intent to distribute, a class one felony, which was dismissed by the 21st Judicial District Attorney’s office.
According to the arrest affidavit, Liu was stopped by State Patrol trooper Christian Bollen on Jan. 13 on Interstate 70 near the Horizon Drive exit because of a cellphone suction-cupped to the window and an air freshener obscuring the driver’s vision.
In the affidavit, Bollen states the white box van Liu was driving was a rental car with California license plates. Liu told police he was traveling to a stereo shop in Milwaukee.
The affidavit notes that Liu was nervous during the stop and at one point started shaking.
Liu is not a native English speaker and needed a Mandarin interpreter during the court proceedings.
According to the affidavit, Liu told police he was traveling with another person in another car. The other car was contacted and the driver said he was traveling alone. Both vehicles were rented from Santa Ana, California, on the same day.
Bollen asked Liu if he could search the van and informed Liu of his right to refuse, and Liu said the trooper could search the van and that he didn’t care.
The affidavit states numerous boxes were stacked two-high on the floor of the van.
“Inside most of the boxes contained individually, retailed packaged marijuana,” the affidavit states. “In total there was a gross weight of 1,598 pounds of marijuana.”
Bollen wrote he then placed Liu under arrest.
At a hearing Jan. 14, Liu was charged with possession with intent to distribute more than 50 pounds, which carries a penalty of eight to 32 years in the Department of Corrections and a fine up to $1 million, according to court transcripts.
District Attorney Dan Rubinstein estimated the amount of marijuana noted in the arrest affidavit is worth nearly $5 million.
Asking the court for a high cash bond, Rubinstein told the court he believed Liu was a significant flight risk because of the amount of marijuana he had and also because Liu has no ties to Colorado.
Liu’s attorney at the time, Clinton Knorpp, told the court Liu does not pose a threat to the community, and the case involved marijuana, not hard drugs.
Knorpp asked for a personal recognizance bond and for Liu to be able to leave the state so he could go home to California.
“This case is unusual because it involves 1,500 pounds plus of marijuana, which is a huge amount,” Judge Craig Henderson said.
Henderson set a $250,000 cash or surety bond for Liu. A cash or surety bond means the full amount can be paid in cash or the subject can go through a bail bond agent.
A week later, Liu appeared in court again, this time before Judge Valerie Robison.
Attorney Ruth Swift appeared on behalf of Liu, and asked the court to lower Liu’s bond from $250,000 to $25,000, according to court transcripts.
“In this case, Mr. Liu is accused of transporting marijuana. The bond, my understanding is that the bond was set at that high amount based on the total gross weight reported in the affidavit of over 1,500 pounds,” Swift said. “However, it’s important to note that even the affidavit essentially says that this is the gross weight of retail packaged marijuana. So the actual quantity of marijuana is very unclear from the affidavit.”
Swift said because the marijuana was individually packaged for retail sale, there is less marijuana contained in the total 1,598 pounds than there would be if it was being transported in bulk.
Chief Deputy District Attorney Jennifer Springer opposed the lowering of the bond, saying, “Regardless of some possible variance in weight, the Defendant was obviously transporting a tremendous amount of marijuana.”
Springer also said she had heard estimates that the value of the cargo was several million dollars.
Robison declined to modify the bond.
Springer and Rubinstein filed a motion to dismiss the charges March 17, stating, “Based on the totality of circumstances, the People do not believe it is in the interests of justice to pursue criminal charges at this time.”
Rubinstein said the charges were dismissed with the full support of Colorado State Patrol.
Rubinstein said in a letter to the editor in The Daily Sentinel responding to criticism of him dismissing the charges that he dismissed the case because of “insurmountable evidentiary and proof problems that led to it being unprosecutable.”
Rubinstein continued, “I spoke to leadership at the Colorado State Patrol about these issues, to advise them of the situation, and ask them to look into them to assure they did not happen again. After the discussion, we jointly agreed that the case should be dismissed. I have an ethical obligation not to prosecute people that I do not believe I have a reasonable likelihood of convicting.”
A confusing bit of news has finally been cleared up with a recent marijuana bust turning out to be much smaller than advertised.
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