Twitter leads authorities to potential illegal pot grow

A barrage of tweets and videos by a self-proclaimed “cannabis connoisseur” led to the arrest of one man and warrants for at least three others on charges of money laundering, tax evasion and illegal distribution of marijuana.

Larimer County Sheriff’s Office deputies arrested Loveland resident Scott Alan Weaver, 44, in Berthoud on Oct. 19. Warrants are out for at least three other men — 26-year-old Joshua Cifuentes, 43-year-old Reynaldo Perez and 53-year-old Domingo Gonzalez — in relation to the case.

Police found nearly 200 pounds of processed marijuana and neearly 200 live marijuana plants at two houses associated with the four men, according to Weaver's arrest affidavit.

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The investigation began in April after an investigator got a tip from the Colorado Information Analysis Center about a possible illegal marijuana grow in the 12000 block of West County Road 18E near Loveland.

A Twitter user with the handle @INFAMOUSJLC had posted videos and photographs showing large quantities of processed marijuana, drying marijuana and firearms allegedly used to protect a marijuana grow house. Other posts showed the conversion of marijuana to hash oil.

“30 pounds to get rid of….anyone got $60k?” one tweet read.

Another tweet referencing the user’s arrest in Las Vegas helped officers identify the account holder as John Louis Colberg. Officers confirmed the videos had been shot at the suspected grow house.

It’s unclear whether or how Colberg is involved with the grow houses, but judging by his tweets he’s still in Las Vegas. There doesn’t appear to be a Larimer County warrant out for his arrest, and tweets were posted to his account as recently as Monday.

Sheriff’s officers spent the next several months taking steps to get a search warrant for the house. They put an electronic tracking device on a truck they’d seen there and tracked it going to and from grow stores in the areas of Denver and Frederick. They also tracked the truck as it made frequent stops at the Loveland Water District filling station.

An investigator also noticed unusually large electricity usage at the Loveland house and another house in Berthoud where deputies had seen the truck. Large electricity and water use can be indicative of a marijuana grow operation.

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After obtaining search warrants for the two houses, deputies found 173 live marijuana plants, 175 pounds of processed marijuana, 28 grams of cocaine and two guns. They also found $850,000 in sales receipts from Way to Grow, a store that sells gardening equipment.

Excise tax on the marijuana found by deputies should have been about $53,000, the Colorado Department of Revenue determined. The department never received tax payments from either address associated with the marijuana grow.

Weaver was inside the house near Loveland while officers searched it. He denied involvement with the marijuana grow but said it had been going on there for the last four years. His job at the house, he told officers, was to answer the door.

This story has a clarification: While the sheriff's office affidavit describes Way to Grow as a store that sells marijuana growing equipment, a business representative told the Coloradoan the business sells gardening equipment.

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