Six of eight defendants arrested in a Montezuma County raid Aug. 28 for allegedly growing too many marijuana plants appeared Tuesday in front of District Court Judge Todd Plewe for arraignment.
Hoa Chu, Danny To, Daining He, Yong Tang, Chen Bocheng, and Mai Luc are all out on bond and had legal representation during the proceedings. They each face a charge of cultivating more than 30 marijuana plants, a Class 3 felony.
An interpreter from Denver, Rose Yan, was on speaker phone to translate the court proceedings into Cantonese for the defendants.
Plewe informed the suspects of the charges and read them their rights. None of the defendants entered pleas, and all were scheduled for a disposition hearing for Nov. 15 or Nov. 26.
At disposition, the defendants can enter a plea, decide to go to trial or be presented with a plea deal if the district attorney so chooses.
While on his way to his arraignment at Montezuma County Combined Courts, one defendant, Sang Teng, was arrested by county deputies on a federal charge related to the case, said District Attorney Will Furse. Teng has been indicted by a grand jury and faces federal prosecution for his alleged involvement in the marijuana operation.
The U.S. attorney’s office has not released details about its case against Teng. Because of the federal indictment, Plewe dismissed the state charge against Teng at Furse’s request.
Another defendant, Je Chu, failed to appear for his arraignment, and Plewe issued a bench warrant for his arrest and ordered that bond be set at $3,000.
The defendants were arrested as part of a multi-agency operation at several properties in Montezuma County that seized an estimated $500,000 in cash, 4,300 plants and 500 pounds of processed marijuana, according to the Drug Enforcement Agency.
The raids were connected to a Chinese or Chinese-speaking ring that has been under investigation since a large marijuana bust in Rifle in 2016, said Steve Knight, resident agent in charge of the DEA office in Grand Junction.
During the hour-and-half arraignment hearing, defendants responded through the translator that they understood their rights, charges and potential penalties.
Plewe explained who their lawyers were, and the attorney-client privilege system. He instructed them on several occasions that if something was not clear, they were to inform their attorneys or the judge.
“I will be very patient, and if you don’t understand something, I will not get upset or hold it against you,” Plewe said during the advisement of rights. “We realize there is a language barrier, and we will do the best we can to make sure you understand your rights and are being treated fairly under the laws of Colorado and the U.S. Constitution.”
The proceedings were complicated by the language barrier, and the defendants often asked for clarification from Plewe, their attorneys and the interpreter.
