PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) – A Josephine County man was sentenced to federal prison for illegally growing marijuana and filing false tax returns with the IRS, authorities announced Monday.

The United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Oregon said 52-year-old Steven Shirley was sentenced to two years in prison with five years’ supervised release on December 18. Shirley was also ordered to pay more than $290,000 in restitution to the IRS and more than $12,000 in restitution to the Bureau of Land Management for damaging land with marijuana grows.

The case goes back to 2012, when Shirley began buying Cave Junction properties as president and minister of Earth Peoples Park, an Oregon-based nonprofit religious organization, according to court documents.

After buying a property, Shirley leased the land to third parties and used profits from the lease to buy more properties, officials said, noting by 2019, he owned or co-owned 21 properties in Josephine County and received at least $400,000 per year through the property leases.

In September 2019, investigators with the Josephine Marijuana Enforcement Team found 16 of Shirley’s properties housed large scale unlicensed marijuana grows.

This led authorities to seize more than 15,000 marijuana plants, while executing a search warrant in October 2019, along with nine guns. Authorities also determined that a portion of BLM land was used for the grows.

During an investigation, authorities learned Shirley not only employed and directed staff to illegally grow and harvest marijuana, but he also sold and delivered it.

Later, in June 2021, authorities executed search warrants on 11 EPP properties and found Shirley continued to grow and sell marijuana on land that was owned by EPP and BLM. During that search warrant, authorities seized additional firearms.

As part of the investigation, IRS agents reviewed EPP’s religious organization tax exempt status and Shirley’s records from 2015 to 2018 – discovering EPP did not qualify as a religious organization and that Shirley used EPP as a for-profit land management company.

The agents also learned that Shirley intentionally underreported lease income by more than $1 million – resulting in over $290,000 in unpaid taxes, officials said.

“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,” said Natalie Wight, U.S. Attorney for the District of Oregon. 

“Mr. Shirley tried to profit from the abuse of nonprofit exemptions and illegal drug operations,” said Adam Jobes, Special Agent in Charge of IRS Criminal Investigation’s Seattle Field Office. “Wednesday’s ruling acknowledges that he’s no spiritual leader.”

In August of 2023, Shirley was charged by criminal information with illegally manufacturing marijuana and filing a false tax return. He later pleaded guilty to the charges on March 12, 2024.