Skip to main content
Two former associates of Aaron Mitchell and Rosa Cazares, the embattled co-founders of the La Mota cannabis dispensary chain, tell WW they were approached in recent weeks by special agents with the FBI and the U.S. Treasury Department asking about the duo’s business practices and personal matters.
The two people approached by special agents both asked to remain unnamed. They are former associates of Mitchell and Cazares, the Florida-based couple that up until this year operated 30 dispensaries across the state. Their empire has been crumbling ever since WW reported on the couple’s millions of dollars in state and federal tax liens and unpaid bills, their hundreds of thousands of dollars in campaign contributions to top Oregon Democratic Party officials this spring, and their relationship with former Secretary of State Shemia Fagan, who signed a $10,000-a-month consulting contract with the couple in February before resigning just days after WW reported on the contract.
Now it appears the feds are asking questions about the couple’s business practices.
According to the two sources, special agents arrived at their Portland homes within the past month and asked questions about how Mitchell and Cazares paid their bills, what cars they drove, and the properties they owned. They also asked about the couple’s political interests, the two sources say, and about the business structure of La Mota. (Mitchell and Cazares registered more than 120 limited liability companies with the state in the past five years. Only four of those LLCs are currently active, according to business filings.)
The government agents asking those questions, the sources tell WW, include special agents with the FBI’s Portland Division and special agents with the Treasury Department, which includes the IRS. Mitchell, Cazares, and the many companies they control have been issued more than $7 million in state and federal tax liens in recent years. Few of those liens have been paid off in full, according to tax documents, and the most recent federal lien was issued in October.
The U.S. Department of Justice launched a criminal investigation into Fagan and her relationship with La Mota this spring, subpoenaing five state agencies for records related to the relationship.
It’s unclear whether the feds’ visits regarding La Mota in recent weeks are part of the investigation launched earlier this spring following Fagan’s resignation, though it’s likely they’re at least closely associated with one another.
A third person tells WW they were approached about two months ago by special agents regarding La Mota and the politicians who received large cash contributions from the couple.
The FBI did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Recipients of La Mota’s cash contributions included Fagan, Gov. Tina Kotek, former Bureau of Labor and Industries Commissioner Val Hoyle (now a U.S. congresswoman), and Senate President Rob Wagner (D-Lake Oswego). Cazares and Mitchell threw lavish fundraisers for Kotek and Fagan in 2021 and 2022, including a black-tie gala for Kotek on the eve of her gubernatorial victory.