A jury will decide if it believes the federal government seized marijuana — not hemp — when it raided two Franklin County properties.
The 12-person jury heard four days of witness testimony in the trial of Lucas Sirois, who is accused of leading the multimillion-dollar black market marijuana operation. His father, Robert Sirois, is also on trial for allegedly being involved in the illegal grow. Their trial started Wednesday morning in U.S. District Court of Maine in Bangor.
The alleged $13 million marijuana grow operation in Franklin County was raided by federal law enforcement in July 2020. The conspiracy became public in October 2021 when the first person pleaded guilty.
Lucas Sirois is alleged to be the leader of the conspiracy. He was licensed to grow medical marijuana in Maine and is charged with conspiracy to manufacture, distribute and possess with intent to distribute marijuana; conspiracy to defraud the U.S. and impede and impair the Internal Revenue Service; bank fraud; and tax evasion.
Robert Sirois is charged with one count each of conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute marijuana and possession with intent to distribute controlled substances. He is banned from handling marijuana because he is a convicted felon.
There is reasonable doubt that the tests the DEA performed did not show the seized plants were marijuana, Lucas Sirois’ attorney, Eric Postow, said during closing arguments Tuesday. In fact, the tests took what were hemp plants and turned it into THC by using high temperatures, he said.
“Hey it’s not quite marijuana yet, cook it a little longer,” Postow said. “How many guilty pleas came on the basis of that test?”
That means the U.S. Attorney’s Office has not met its job to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Lucas Sirois committed the crimes he’s charged with, Postow said.
It’s revisionist history to say Lucas Sirois was growing hemp, Assistant U.S. Attorney Noah Faulk said. Witness after witness said they were only involved in marijuana growth and sales at the properties and that hemp was rarely – if ever — mentioned, Faulk said.
“You can’t change the past,” Faulk said. “But that is what defendants have been trying to do during this trial.”
The defense had a witness who talked about what he said are better ways to test cannabis to find the THC amount without heating it up, Faulk said. Yes, there are other ways to test for marijuana, Faulk said, but the DEA’s testing has been evaluated thoroughly and all the potential concerns were addressed.
One piece the government has to prove for a conviction is that more than 1,000 pounds or plants were involved in the conspiracy. Approximately 18,000 pounds of marijuana were processed between the two facilities between 2016 and the July 2020 raid, according to a conservative estimate from witness testimony, Faulk said.
Even if the jury is skeptical about what the plants were, it’s still enough product to prove conspiracy, Faulk said.
“It doesn’t matter if the plant itself is marijuana or if it’s hemp or if it’s oregano,” Faulk said. “It’s the agreement and it’s the intent that counts.”
Lucas Siois underpaid his taxes by $416,00 in 2017 and 2018 by making fake purchases from his unprofitable businesses with his profitable ones, Faulk said. He hired an accountant to help figure out how to get his tax bill to nearly zero, Faulk said.
Yes, Lucas Sirois hired and trusted a tax expert, Postow said. Lucas Sirois didn’t do his taxes, he just followed the advice of that expert, his lawyer said.
Over the course of the trial, the government showed there were three agreements to manage the grow facilities, none of which involved Robert Sirois, his attorney, William Maselli, said.
“I’ve been wondering what evidence [the government] can point to justify the conviction of Robert Sirois, I just can’t find it,” Maselli said.
Robert Sirois did maintenance around the facilities and was paid hourly for it, Maselli said. Robert Sirois had no management, no ownership and no stake in the business.
Witness testimony put him in Florida during the early part of 2020, Maselli said. The witness also said Robert Sirois did not return to the facility because of the coronavirus pandemic, but he is charged from evidence in the July 2020 raid, Maselli said.
Of the 13 people charged, 11, including Lucas Sirois’ estranged wife, Alisa Sirois, have pleaded guilty to felony charges.
The jury is in deliberations before delivering a verdict.
