U.S. CIVIL SUIT LINKS REAL ESTATE AGENT, MARIJUANA GROWING

The man allegedly helped associates buy houses where the plant was grown

A Beaverton real estate agent helped associates buy homes provided that
they grew marijuana inside and sold it to him, a federal civil suit alleges.

Although a dozen homes and an estimated $10 million in marijuana are
allegedly involved, neither the real estate agent, identified as Roland M.
Thoma, nor any of his associates has been arrested.

U.S. attorneys filed the suit last week as the first step toward seizing
ownership of the 12 Portland-area homes. Federal law allows the government
to seize assets if it can prove that they were used in the commission of
illegal drug activities.

In papers filed in court Friday, U.S. attorneys allege Thoma, 39,
established a network of associates during the past five years, placing
them in homes and buying marijuana from them for $3,800 a pound.
Investigators estimated that since 1992 the group has grown about $10
million worth of marijuana and transported it to California for resale.

Since starting their inquiry in October, investigators have seized more
than 1,400 marijuana plants and 36 pounds of dried marijuana.

James G.W. Lilley, a senior Washington County sheriff's deputy and lead
investigator on the case, would not say why no arrests had been made.

"This is not a case that's going to develop the way most cases develop," he
said.

He would not comment further. Nor would the assistant U.S. attorney who
filed the civil suit nor Charles Ball, the lead attorney on the case for
the Regional Organized Crime Narcotics task force, to which Lilley is
assigned.

Thoma, through his attorney, also declined to comment.

The 12 homes, in Washington, Multnomah, Clackamas and Yamhill counties have
an assessed value of about $2 million; most have loans against them. Their
individual assessed value ranged from $84,000 to $291,000.

Land records show that Thoma owns two of the homes; one is owned by a
company operated by his sister, Klaudia Neiss; and one is owned by his
father, Franz F. Thoma.

Roland Thoma and one of his alleged associates, Gary Lee Corrie, have been
convicted before of drug-related offenses, Oregon records show. Corrie's
company, GLC Landscaping, owns one of the 12 homes, at 28215 S.W. Heater
Road in Clackamas County south of Sherwood.

Thoma was convicted of felony possession of a controlled substance in 1979.

Corrie, 37, was convicted of felony possession of a controlled substance in
1991 and felony delivery and manufacture of a controlled substance in 1996.

Another of the homes, at 7975 S.W. 45th Ave. in Multnomah County, is owned
by Mortgage Market Inc. of Lake Oswego. One of the company's owners, Martin
Francis, recently deeded it to the company.

Francis also sold the house to Corrie's company last April. Land records
show that Mortgage Market was the lender on two of the 12 homes, one owned
by Thoma.

Francis, through his attorney, declined to comment Monday.

An affidavit filed by Lilley as part of the civil case alleges the following:

Several people, among them Roland Thoma's sister, pointed out homes to
investigators where the marijuana was being grown or gave details about the
operation.

Thoma's sister, Neiss, said he had bought a car for her and was paying her
$3,000 a month to take care of growing operations at a house near Sherwood
and two others.

Typically, such indoor pot cultivation requires large amounts of electrical
power to supply lighting. Window openings are usually taped closed to avoid
detection by outsiders.

At several of the homes, evidence was found that electrical meters had been
bypassed to avoid detection. Portland General Electric Co. sometimes
provides information to law-enforcement agencies about unusually high power
consumption.

Troy Christopher Cunningham, 28, told investigators that he had been the
owner of a home at 21233 S.W. Hells Canyon Road, southwest of Sherwood. But
in October last year ownership passed to Hausfrau, a home-cleaning business
operated by Neiss.

Steven Ernest Taylor, 34, alleged to be a partner of Thoma's, said Thoma
moved Cunningham from the Hells Canyon house to another house because Thoma
did not trust Cunningham to care for the growing plants. Investigators
seized 376 marijuana plants and five pounds of dried marijuana from the
Hells Canyon house.

"Cunningham said that in 1997 he made numerous trips to California to
deliver marijuana to Thoma's distributor, returning with cash paid . . .,"
Lilley's affidavit states.

Cunningham moved from the Hells Canyon address to a house at 17310 N.W.
Bernard Place in Beaverton. There, investigators found about 20 pounds of
dried marijuana.

Records of the state Real Estate Agency, which is conducting its own
inquiry related to the marijuana allegations, show that Thoma obtained his
license in 1982. It was on inactive status from 1987 to 1992.

Since then, records show that Thoma has worked for three different firms,
most recently Re/Max Executives in Beaverton. That company returned his
license to the agency on Feb. 10, and a company spokesman said it would not
comment on the reasons for his departure.

Thoma began a new job, with the Sunset Group real estate firm in Beaverton,
on Friday.