Oregon Man Heads For Federal Prison On Marijuana Growing & False Tax Return Charges
JOSEPHINE COUNTY, Ore. — On Wednesday, a Josephine County, Steven Shirley, 52, was sentenced to 24 months in federal prison and five years’ supervised release. Shirley was manufacturing marijuana illegally and filing false tax returns- claiming to be running a nonprofit with the IRS.
Steven Shirley Claiming Marijuana Farm Was Nonprofit Sentenced To Jail
A news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Oregon indicated that Shirley was charged with illegally manufacturing marijuana and filing a false tax return on August 2, 2023, and pleaded guilty to the charges on March 12, 2024.
Shirley started purchasing properties in Cave Junction in 2012 in his capacity as president and minister of Earth Peoples Park (EPP), an Oregon nonprofit religious organization.
The land was then leased to third parties, and Shirley used the lease profits to purchase more properties, accumulating 21 properties in Josephine County with EPP by 2019. At least $400,000 per year was earned through the property leases.
Adam Jobes, Special Agent in Charge of IRS Criminal Investigation’s Seattle Field Office, confirmed that Shirley tried to profit by abusing nonprofit exemptions and through illegal drug operations. Jobes said, “Wednesday’s ruling acknowledges that he’s no spiritual leader.”
Investigators from the Josephine Marijuana Enforcement Team (JMET ) identified sixteen of the properties had large-scale, unlicensed marijuana grows in September 2019 and executed search warrants and seized more than 15,000 marijuana plants and nine firearms a few days later on October 1.
Investigators also discovered that a portion of Bureau of Land Management (BLM) lands were used for the marijuana grows. Shirley employed and directed staff to grow and harvest marijuana illegally and then sold and delivered the marijuana.
With the assistance of JMET, BLM executed search warrants on June 14, 2021, at eleven EPP properties and found that Shirley was still illegally manufacturing and selling marijuana on lands owned by EPP and the BLM. At the time, agents also seized additional firearms.
When IRS agents reviewed Shirley’s personal tax records from 2015 to 2018 and looked into EPP’s religious organization tax-exempt status, they established that Shirley used EPP as a for-profit land management company—a non-exempt purpose under the IRS code, and EPP did not qualify as a religious organization.
They also noted that Shirley intentionally underreported lease income by over $1 million, attracting a further $290,000 in unpaid taxes.
Shirley was also ordered to pay $290,291 to the IRS and $12,896 in restitution to the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) for damage the marijuana grows caused to the environment on BLM land.
Sources & References
- Press Release from U.S. Attorney’s Office – District of Oregon