Texas Man Pleads Guilty in Oregon Pot Trafficking Ring

PORTLAND, Ore. — A Houston man is headed for a federal prison cell after admitting his role in a sprawling interstate marijuana trafficking ring that shipped Oregon-grown pot to Texas and funneled millions in drug cash back through the mail and on commercial flights. Trent Lamar Knight, 31, pleaded guilty today to multiple felony counts, including conspiracy to manufacture and distribute marijuana, maintaining drug operations, and using a firearm in connection with drug crimes.

Knight’s operation wasn’t small-time. Since August 2017, federal agencies have seized 11,000 marijuana plants, 546 pounds of processed weed, and over $2.8 million in cash. They’ve also seized 51 firearms, 26 vehicles, trailers, heavy machinery, a yacht, and three houses rigged as grow sites. The sheer volume of seized assets reveals a highly organized criminal enterprise moving bulk marijuana across state lines and shipping bulk U.S. currency in return.

The charges Knight pleaded guilty to carry brutal penalties. Conspiring to manufacture, possess with intent to distribute, and distribute marijuana — along with maintaining drug-involved premises — brings a maximum of 40 years behind bars, a $5 million fine, and lifetime supervised release. But the firearm count is the hammer: using or carrying a gun during a drug trafficking crime carries a mandatory minimum of seven years and a possible life sentence, plus a $250,000 fine and five years of supervision post-release.

Knight is scheduled to be sentenced on August 14, 2019, before U.S. District Court Judge Robert E. Jones. As part of his plea deal, he has agreed to forfeit all criminally derived proceeds and any property used to facilitate the operation — a financial gut punch that could strip him of everything tied to the conspiracy.

He’s not the only one falling. Co-defendants Brittany Lesanta Kizzee, 28, of Houston; Paul Eugene Thomas, 38; and Raleigh Dragon Lau, 33, both of Portland; and Cole William Griffiths, 30, of Hood River, Oregon, have all pleaded guilty to related charges. Griffiths and Thomas face sentencing on August 5 and 6, 2019, respectively. Kizzee and Lau are set for August 7. The last holdout, Jody Tremayne Wafer, 29, also of Houston, is scheduled to stand trial on June 18, 2019.

This case was led by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, IRS Criminal Investigation, Homeland Security Investigations, and the FBI, and prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Oregon. It was brought under the Justice Department’s Organized Crime and Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) program, established in 1982 to dismantle major drug and money laundering networks. This bust is a textbook OCDETF takedown — coordinated, multi-agency, and aimed at cutting the head off a well-funded trafficking operation.

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