The Student News Site of Colorado State University

The Rocky Mountain Collegian

The Student News Site of Colorado State University

The Rocky Mountain Collegian

The Student News Site of Colorado State University

The Rocky Mountain Collegian

Print Edition
Letter to the editor submissions
Have a strong opinion about something happening on campus or in Fort Collins? Want to respond to an article written on The Collegian? Write a Letter to the Editor by following the guidelines here.
Follow Us on Twitter
From the Rockies to the Races: Why College Students Are Joining the Celebrity-Packed  Kentucky Derby
From the Rockies to the Races: Why College Students Are Joining the Celebrity-Packed Kentucky Derby
April 24, 2024

The Kentucky Derby, often celebrated as “the most exciting two minutes in sports,” transcends mere horse racing to become a staple of American...

Green Report: Lazy Lion Avoids Taxes

Scrabble letters spelling out "tax" on top of dollar bills arranged randomly
Taxes (Photo Credit 401(K) 2012 on Flickr)

Owners of The Lazy Lion in Colorado Springs, Colorado have recently been found guilty of filing false tax reports. On Wednesday February 13th, 31-year-old Andrew Poarch pled guilty to these charges, his wife, Shuntay Poarch, is scheduled to face trial for the same crime March 25th.

The couple are accused by the IRS of not paying $3.1 million in federal taxes and was determined that the dispensary grossed about $10.8 million in revenue since its opening in January 2013.

Ad

The Lazy Lion was a dispensary in Colorado Springs that allowed customers to purchase cannabis from the establishment, and smoke it there as well.  The dispensary was never registered as a recreational dispensary and never registered with the city to allow their customers to consume cannabis on the property.

They acted as a cash only business until August 2016 when they were shut down by the feds. Customers could sign up to join a private club by signing a customer agreement with the dispensary and paying an initial fee. The customers would then pay a smaller entry fee for following visits and whatever their cannabis cost.

The owners supplied their store with several grow operations from around Colorado Springs that the couple also owned.

The couple claimed on their 2014 taxes that they made a little less than $20 thousand when in reality they made more than $2.8 million and owed $1 million in taxes. The couple then failed to file income tax reports for 2015 and 2016 where they made about $4.2 million and $1.3 million respectively.

Customers and other locals said that they were largely unaware the company was acting illegally, and that it gives a bad name to cannabis clubs and dispensaries everywhere and that the owners were acting out of sheer greed.

Andrew Poarch will be sentenced May 22nd and was initially charged December 20th.

Leave a Comment
More to Discover

Comments (0)

When commenting on The Collegian’s website, please be respectful of others and their viewpoints. The Collegian reviews all comments and reserves the right to reject comments from the website. Comments including any of the following will not be accepted. 1. No language attacking a protected group, including slurs or other profane language directed at a person’s race, religion, gender, sexual orientation, social class, age, physical or mental disability, ethnicity or nationality. 2. No factually inaccurate information, including misleading statements or incorrect data. 3. No abusive language or harassment of Collegian writers, editors or other commenters. 4. No threatening language that includes but is not limited to language inciting violence against an individual or group of people. 5. No links.
All The Rocky Mountain Collegian Picks Reader Picks Sort: Newest

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *