Jeffrey Fillers of Eureka, who has applied for state licenses to operate medical marijuana facilities and owns a stake in a local brewery and restaurant, is facing federal charges in Wyoming accusing him of laundering money in a marijuana conspiracy, according to court documents.
Fillers allegedly laundered money for his brother-in-law, Bryan Jones, who lives near Jackson, Wyo., and was part of a of conspiracy to distribute marijuana, Drug Enforcement Administration Special Agent Justin Vanderbilt wrote in an affidavit accompanying the criminal complaint.
Fillers is the CEO of The Daily Hybrid LLC, which has applied for Missouri licenses to operate six medical marijuana businesses, according to state records.
The company is seeking licenses to operate a dispensary, cultivation site, manufacturing business and transportation business in Eureka, as well as a cultivation site in Farmington, state records show.
“We don’t have any evidence yet,” said attorney William Goldstein of Moran and Goldstein, who is representing Fillers. “What I do know is that Jeffrey is a good man and good father. He has no criminal history. I hope that the good people of Eureka will afford the same presumption of innocence that we are all entitled in these types of situations.”
Fillers owns a 6.97 percent share of the Melvin Brewing Co., which opened a location in Eureka in June, court papers said.
“Melvin Brewing was surprised to learn of the charges against Jeffrey Fillers,” Max Clough of Melvin Brewing wrote in an email. “Like most companies, we have a number of investors, and Mr. Fillers and Jeffrey Fillers Homes are investors. The Company has no knowledge about the allegations in the indictment.”
Fillers was charged Dec. 6 in federal court in Wyoming with one count of conspiracy to distribute marijuana and one count of conspiracy to launder monetary instruments. Each charge carries a penalty of up to 20 years in prison, up to a $1 million fine, up to life supervised release and a $100 special assessment, court papers said.
Fillers was arrested Dec. 11 and was released Dec. 13 on a $250,000 unsecured bond, according to court documents.
In the complaint, Fillers and Jones are accused of illegal distributing marijuana and laundering money gained from selling marijuana from January 2008 through December of this year.
Authorities seized more than $700,000 and about 400 pounds of marijuana, and they watched Fillers’ home and searched his phone, emails and bank records, according to the affidavit.
Vanderbilt accused Jones of purchasing marijuana from growers in Oregon, or growing his own at sites in Oregon and California. Jones would then ship the marijuana to New York state, and the cash proceeds would be driven or flown back, the affidavit said.
Vanderbilt wrote that agents were told in August 2018 that Fillers laundered drug money through a business, Jeffrey Fillers Homes LLC, and at times, Fillers owned properties Jones used to grow marijuana.
In August 2014, investigators discovered that property in Williams, Ore., that was exchanged between Jones and Fillers was used by Fillers to obtain a $303,000 loan from First Community National Bank, and $300,000 was wired to the Teton Law Group, LCC in Jackson, Wyo., from Fillers Homes’ First Community bank account, Vanderbilt wrote.
Vanderbilt wrote it is believed Fillers used that $300,000 to invest in Melvin Brewing.
In March 2019, investigators analyzed text messages and emails from Jones to an unidentified person that appear to indicate a money-laundering scheme for the drug trafficking organization’s marijuana proceeds that Fillers used to set up property deals in Tennessee, according to the affidavit.
In November 2019, Fillers received two wire transfers from Deschutes County Title Co. that totaled $438,984.87 from the sale of property in Bend, Ore. The property allegedly had been used to grow marijuana, the affidavit said.
In August 2019, Fillers received a cashier’s check for $56,000 from one of his First Community accounts to the Dailey Hybrid, which then bought property in the 300 block of West Main Street in Eureka for $1 million, Vanderbilt wrote.
The Daily Hybrid is one of hundreds of business groups that applied for state licenses to grow, process, sell or transport medical marijuana. The state contracted with a company to score applications in a blind process and is issuing licenses to the top scorers starting on Dec. 19 through Jan. 31, 2020.
Missouri law generally bars felons from owning or working for a marijuana company. That excludes people convicted of using marijuana, people convicted of non-violent crimes more than five years ago who were not incarcerated and convicts released from incarceration more than five years ago who have not since been convicted of another crime.