PORTLAND, Ore. – Two people who used to live in Jacksonville, Oregon were sentenced for their roles in an interstate marijuana trafficking conspiracy.
The U.S. Department of Justice said in 2011, Alex David Koplin moved to Oregon from Georgia in order to work in the marijuana industry. He went on to start a marijuana farm in Jackson County.
Court documents show Koplin worked with others to arrange illegal out-of-state transport and sales of marijuana.
Eventually, investigators say they learned Koplin’s then-girlfriend, Tina Marie Waterfield, was illegally shipping marijuana edibles to the East Coast and laundering the money she received as payment. Between 2013 and 2016, Waterfield’s bank account had nearly $500,000 in unexplained deposits.
In 2017, Koplin and Waterfield’s property was searched and numerous pieces of evidence supporting the marijuana trafficking case were discovered.
On August 19, 2019, Koplin and Waterfield pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit money laundering. Koplin also pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute a controlled substance. Koplin was sentenced to 31 months in federal prison with three years of post-prison supervision. Waterfield was sentenced to five years of probation.
As part of their plea deals, Koplin and Waterfield were ordered to forfeit $150,00 and $44,226 respectively.
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