U.S. Attorney Natalie K. Wight | U.S. Department of Justice
A Josephine County man has been sentenced to federal prison for illegal marijuana manufacturing and falsifying tax returns. Steven Shirley, aged 52, received a 24-month sentence along with five years of supervised release. He must also pay restitution totaling $290,291 to the IRS and $12,896 to the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) for environmental damage caused by marijuana cultivation on BLM land.
Court documents reveal that since 2012, Shirley acquired properties in Cave Junction, Oregon under Earth Peoples Park (EPP), a nonprofit religious organization. The properties were leased out to third parties, generating profits used for further acquisitions. By 2019, EPP owned or co-owned 21 properties in Josephine County and earned at least $400,000 annually from leases.
Natalie Wight, U.S. Attorney for the District of Oregon stated: “We thank the dedicated law enforcement officers for their commitment to disrupt the defendant’s scheme that damaged public lands and circumvented his tax responsibilities.”
Adam Jobes from IRS Criminal Investigation remarked: “Mr. Shirley tried to profit from the abuse of nonprofit exemptions and illegal drug operations.” He added that Wednesday’s ruling "acknowledges that he’s no spiritual leader."
Investigations by the Josephine Marijuana Enforcement Team (JMET) in September 2019 uncovered large-scale unlicensed marijuana grows on sixteen properties. On October 1, 2019, law enforcement seized over 15,000 marijuana plants and nine firearms during searches which also found BLM land was used for cultivation.
Further investigations revealed Shirley directed staff in growing and selling marijuana illegally. Additional raids on June 14, 2021 confirmed ongoing illegal activities on EPP and BLM lands where more firearms were seized.
The IRS reviewed EPP's tax-exempt status alongside Shirley's personal taxes from 2015-2018 uncovering misuse of nonprofit status as a for-profit entity with underreported income exceeding $1 million leading to unpaid taxes over $290,000.
Shirley was charged with illegally manufacturing marijuana and filing a false tax return on August 2, 2023; he pleaded guilty on March 12, 2024.
The case was investigated by several agencies including BLM and IRS Criminal Investigation with assistance from various local entities. It was prosecuted by Judith R. Harper of the U.S. Attorney's Office for Oregon.
