Federal prosecutors say a Colorado attorney charged in connection with major raids on state-licensed medical marijuana businesses is not protected by a new law that tells the feds to back off.
Attorney David Furtado was one of four men charged after sweeping raids two years ago targeting the VIP Cannabis dispensary and related businesses. The men were ultimately indicted on charges of money laundering and trying to deposit money from an illegal enterprise into a bank account.
Last month, Furtado raised a novel legal argument: that a federal budget amendment passed last year means the U.S. Justice Department is prohibited from spending money on prosecutions like his. He asked the judge to throw out the case against him.
In a response filed last week, federal prosecutors say the budget amendment doesn't block their case against Furtado and his co-defendants because what the men are accused of doing was illegal under both federal and state law.
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