The former mayor of Barstow and a dozen other people have been charged with felony marijuana cultivation and tax evasion in connection with a July 2022 raid at a warehouse owned by a Chinese countertop manufacturing company.
Paul Anthony Courtney, 64, and the other defendants, including eight Chinese nationals, were each charged on July 2 with one felony count of tax evasion and one felony count of cultivating more than six marijuana plants.
The criminal complaint filed by the San Bernardino County District Attorney’s Office noted that the crimes may have involved “great violence, great bodily harm” or other acts involving “a high degree of cruelty, viciousness, or callousness.” Additionally, it noted that witnesses may have been threatened and dissuaded from testifying in court, and induced to commit perjury to interfere with the judicial process.
Court records show that arrest warrants have been issued for all 13 defendants, and no hearing dates have been scheduled.
Reached by telephone on Thursday, July 17, Courtney said he was unaware of the criminal charges that had been filed against him, and that he was surprised to learn of them. He denied having any role in any illicit marijuana activity and insisted he had no knowledge of the other defendants.
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The San Bernardino County District Attorney’s Office has charged former Barstow Mayor Paul Courtney and 12 other people, including eight Chinese nationals, with felony tax evasion and illegal cultivation of marijuana in connection with a July 7, 2022 police raid at this warehouse at 2989 Lenwood Rd., owned by the Chinese countertop-making company American Quartz Group, Inc. More than 15,000 marijuana plants were seized during the raid. (Photo by Joe Nelson/SCNG)
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The San Bernardino County District Attorney’s Office has charged former Barstow Mayor Paul Courtney and 12 other people, including eight Chinese nationals, with felony tax evasion and illegal cultivation of marijuana in connection with a July 7, 2022 police raid at this warehouse at 2989 Lenwood Rd., owned by the Chinese countertop-making company American Quartz Group, Inc. More than 15,000 marijuana plants were seized during the raid. (Photo by Joe Nelson/SCNG)
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“I have no idea who these people are,” said Courtney, who served on the City Council from December 2020 until December 2024 but decided not to run again.
Since the July 7, 2022, police raid at the American Quartz Group Inc. warehouse at 2989 Lenwood Road — when Courtney was serving the ceremonial position of mayor — he said he has had no contact with any law enforcement officials regarding the alleged illegal marijuana grow and tax evasion.
“Nobody ever contacted me — no Barstow police, no DA investigator, nobody,” Courtney said. “My only knowledge of that illegal grow was when I got a call from our city manager, Willie Hopkins, informing me police were raiding the American Quartz Toyota warehouse.”
Courtney said he was in Atlanta when the raid occurred, and that the warehouse is known by city officials as the “Toyota warehouse” because it has been known to store Toyota vehicle parts.
15,000 plants discovered
According to a probable cause declaration by Supervising Deputy District Attorney Cary Epstein, filed in Victorville Superior Court, Barstow police served a search warrant at the warehouse and noticed electrical and freshwater lines running into the building. Inside, they discovered 15,007 marijuana plants filling up 10 rooms.
Police were summoned to the warehouse by a building inspector, who was inspecting another building at the American Quartz property when he stumbled upon the illegal grow site. He called police, who arrived and noticed a strong odor of marijuana from as far as 100 feet away, so police got a warrant to search the premises, according to the Victorville Daily Press.
Defendants Jordan, Zachary and Jacob Woolsey, all brothers from Canyon Lake, were on the property when police arrived. Jordan Woolsey, 41, told police he didn’t have any knowledge of the marijuana grow, and that he had applied with the city for a permit, but the application was denied because it was incomplete. He said he intended to run a legitimate marijuana company to export products to dispensaries, and was at the location only to deliver supplies, according to the declaration.
Zachary and Jacob Woolsey, ages 35 and 39, respectively, declined to speak to investigators at the scene, according to the declaration.
Natasha Stratton, another defendant in the case, demonstrated to police how to turn on the lights to the marijuana grow, and told investigators that “the Woolsey brothers oversaw the operations,” according to Epstein’s declaration.
A city representative, according to the declaration, told investigators that Jacob Woolsey submitted an application for a marijuana cultivation permit in March 2022 under the business name Woolsey Farms, but it was denied.
American Quartz CEO Tommy Hu leased space at the warehouse for the Woolseys, as well as to another company, UUC World Trade Inc., for the purpose of cultivating marijuana, according to Epstein’s declaration.
Neither Hu nor the Woolsey brothers responded to requests for comment.
Suspicious Bentley
The day of the police raid, a security guard stationed at the warehouse told investigators he noticed Courtney at the location monthly. Courtney, according to the declaration, would drive through the gate and would enter the building through the employee entrance.
An American Quartz employee told investigators she saw Courtney at the warehouse an average of twice a month. She also told investigators Courtney would walk straight back to where the warehouse offices were located. Investigators reviewed surveillance videos and noted a newer model Bentley, with a customized license plate reading #PACE1, pulling out of a bay door at the warehouse, according to the declaration.
Courtney confirmed he owns such a vehicle with the customized plate, which refers to his janitorial services company, P.A.C.E. Services. He confirmed P.A.C.E. is an acronym for Paul Anthony Courtney Enterprises.
Courtney said as mayor, he tried to visit all major businesses in the city monthly, and American Quartz was among them.
“American Quartz is a major business in Barstow with an investment into our community,” Courtney said Friday. “Mr. Hu, CEO of American Quartz, was always my contact.”
As for the pot grow, Courtney said he had no knowledge of it. “That location was not a part of the manufacturing facility,” he said, denying having ever visited the warehouse. He also denied having ever driven his Bentley in or out of a bay at the warehouse.
“I never went to the warehouses, just to American Quartz to visit Mr. Hu,” Courtney said.
Though Hu did not respond to a request for comment, a woman at the business on Thursday, July 17, who identified herself as Nancy Clayton, an office assistant, said American Quartz was not involved in any illegal marijuana activity at its properties, which comprise a warren of warehouses on a 74.4-acre spread on Lenwood Road, west of the 15 Freeway.
“It was one of our tenants,” she said.
Chinese nationals
San Bernardino County prosecutors also charged Ming Fang Wu, 49, Yong Chao Huang, 59, Wo Shun Yang, 53, Cui Ping Zhang, 66, En Dan Li, 27, Ai Qin Lin, 59, Han Jun Chen, 37, and Hong Wei, 65. All are Chinese nationals, District Attorney Jason Anderson said.
All eight of the defendants were at the grow site the day of the raid, and told investigators they were hired for a variety of duties, mainly cleaning the warehouse and watering and feeding the plants, but also to cook and feed the other workers. They told investigators they had been working at the grow from a few days to a couple of weeks, according to the declaration.
At least half of the workers, according to the declaration, said they found the jobs through an app called Platform 128, reportedly used by millions of Chinese people worldwide to find jobs and housing, among other things.
Neither Anderson nor Barstow police would provide any additional information on the case, including the status of arrests, the possibly violent nature of the offenses noted in the criminal complaint, whether they suspect Chinese labor trafficking factors into the operation, and if American Quartz Group is culpable in any way.
Tax evasion
According to Epstein’s declaration, a supplemental investigation by the California Department of Tax and Fee Administration— concluded that the “defendants and property owner” did not obtain a cannabis tax permit and license from the Department of Cannabis Control, thereby evading the cannabis excise tax.
“California Department of Tax and Fee Administration calculated $35,589 in cannabis excise tax due to the State of California,” according to the declaration.
