Verano Holdings, a Chicago weed firm worth roughly $3 billion, was sued Monday in federal court as part of a sweeping racketeering complaint that accuses the company of illegally trafficking cannabis from Illinois to Arkansas.
The lawsuit filed in Colorado alleges a complicated conspiracy that allegedly included the company and Harvest Health & Recreation, an Arizona firm that attempted to acquire Verano for $850 million in March 2019.
The plaintiff, Nicholas Nielsen, worked for a cultivation center in Newport, Arkansas, that was owned by Natural State Wellness Enterprises and managed by Harvest as the company worked in lockstep with Verano as the acquisition was pending. The deal fizzled, however.
The suit hinges on Nielsen’s arrest last January in Jonesboro, Arkansas, where police raided his home after uncovering 28 harvested pot plants in his garbage can, the Van Buren County Democrat reported. Nielsen was then arrested and charged after the cops found two more plants inside the home along with other pot products and paraphernalia.
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