FAMILY SHOULD HAVE KNOWN OF POT RISK, COURT RULES

The Arizona Court of Appeals issued a warning last week to an East
Coast family that owned two Tucson townhomes.

Rehiring a property manager after he used one townhome as a marijuana
stash house means the owner risks losing the other townhome if it,
too, becomes a stash house.

In a decision issued Jan. 18, a panel unanimously upheld Pima County
Superior Court Judge John F. Kelly's ruling that the family should
have known criminal activity might occur and the townhomes can be
seized.

Norman Goldstein bought Belle Vista townhomes at 8428 E. Agape Drive
and 8444 E. Agape Drive, near Speedway Boulevard and Camino Seco,
according to the decision. Goldstein put the title in his children's
names but remained the property agent.

The Goldsteins live in New York and New Jersey, the decision
said.

Goldstein hired Greg Shepis of Tucson to manage the properties.
Goldstein fired Shepis after learning from a newspaper story in 2001
that Shepis pleaded guilty to possession of marijuana for sale.

The state moved to seize the property at 8428 E. Agape Drive, saying
Shepis used that and other properties to stash marijuana, the
decision says. However, Goldstein rehired Shepis six months later.

In 2003, the state moved to seize the property at 8444 E. Agape
Drive, saying Shepis used it to stash marijuana. The Goldsteins
appealed the forfeiture, saying the property was exempt because the
family didn't know it was being used for a crime. The court ruled
the family "could reasonably have known of the illegal activity or
that it was likely to reoccur," which made the property eligible for
forfeiture.

The decision doesn't say what action was taken against Shepis in
either of the cases.