HELENA — Federal agents seized a 2006 Big Sky Conference championship ring belonging to a former University of Montana quarterback in a series of raids on medical marijuana providers earlier this month.
Federal agents executed 12 search warrants Nov. 16 on businesses, homes and warehouses related to at least three medical marijuana operations in towns in western Montana. The warrants called for the seizure of drugs, firearms, records and proceeds from drug sales, including cash and jewelry.
Among those targeted but not arrested was former Grizzlies quarterback Jason Washington, 28, who owns a medical marijuana business called Big Sky Health and an automotive customizing shop called 406 Motoring Automotive Specialists.
Agents searched Washington’s home and businesses, confiscating the championship ring along with other jewelry items from his Missoula home, according to inventories recently filed with U.S. District Court in Missoula.
The inventories listed a semiautomatic rifle, a semiautomatic pistol, containers of marijuana butter and $4,000 cash seized from Washington’s auto shop. Federal agents also reported taking several pounds of marijuana and marijuana products from the Big Sky Health office.
Agents also seized more than $184,000 in cash from several bank accounts associated with Washington and his businesses.
Washington’s attorney, Josh Van de Wetering, said negotiations are under way with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the return of the ring and other seized personal items. He declined to comment further on the raids.
Washington started five games for the Grizzlies in 2005 before being injured. He had surgery and did not play the 2006 season, the year Montana won the Big Sky after going 8-0 against conference rivals.
He was kicked off the team in 2007 for reasons Coach Bobby Hauck did not disclose at the time. Washington said at the time that he was removed from the team after allegedly missing a training-room treatment and two weekend conditioning workouts.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office has repeatedly declined to comment on the raids and the investigation. Federal prosecutors released a statement on the day of the raids that said the actions were part of a 12-month probe into the drug trafficking activities of a criminal enterprise operating in the state.
Besides Washington’s businesses, the raids targeted other medical marijuana operations and residences in Missoula, Kalispell, Somers and Whitefish.
Agents searched the offices of Kind Caregivers in Missoula and Glacier Health in Kalispell, confiscating marijuana products, baggies and jars of pot and cash.
They seized more than 80 pounds of marijuana, 1,001 marijuana root systems and a handgun from a Missoula warehouse. A search of a Kalispell warehouse turned up 181 marijuana root systems and several dead pot plants.
Agents also took 52 bags of marijuana and bundles of cash from a Somers home, plus marijuana products and several pistols and rifles from two Missoula homes.
The new wave of raids is an apparent continuation of a crackdown that began in March, when federal agents searched dozens of registered medical marijuana caregivers in coordinated raids carried out across the state.
The March raids cast a pall over what had been a booming industry in Montana and caused many providers to shutter their operations. The Montana Cannabis Industry Association and others have sued the federal government, claiming the raids violated their civil rights.