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PORTLAND, Ore. (KPTV) — Oregon’s first legal pot proprietor was sentenced Monday to seven months in federal prison and ordered to pay more than $262,000 for willfully failing to file federal income tax returns, according to the Oregon District Attorney’s Office.
Matthew Price, 32, of Portland, “attempted to live a double life,” the attorney’s office says, allegedly advising the Oregon Liquor Control Commission on how to regulate state-legal marijuana sales while privately evading his personal and business tax obligations.
According to court documents, Price in 2010 came to Portland with the financial backing of a business partner in Colorado. Price, then 25, hoped to launch a state-legal marijuana business in anticipation of Oregon’s full retail legalization.
In December 2010, Price opened a marijuana farmers market in Portland called “Cannabliss”. In mid-2013, Price and his business partner converted the business to a medical marijuana dispensary and, in 2014, opened two additional Cannabliss locations.
The attorney’s office says Price failed to file personal tax returns for four consecutive years starting in 2011, despite retaining the services of three different certified accountants. During that time, his taxable income grew from $42,000 in 2011 to $590,000 in 2014, according to the attorney’s office.
In 2015, Price was a member of the OLCC’s Recreation Marijuana Technical Advisory Retail Subcommittee. In this capacity, Price and other retailers advised the OLCC in its rulemaking process for Oregon Measure 91.
Price earlier this year pleaded guilty to four counts of willfully failing to file personal income tax returns.
Upon completion of his sentence, Price will be on supervised release for three years with six months of home detention.
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