La Mota Co-Founder, Former Kotek Donor Indicted in $1.54 Million Tax Case
La Mota co-founder Rosa Cazares faces eight felony counts as the company's state tax debts mount and federal prosecutors decline to discuss scope of their ongoing investigation.
La Mota co-founder Rosa Cazares plays pickleball at a fundraiser she hosted for Gov. Tina Kotek in 2022. Co-founder Aaron Mitchell is on the left (Photo by Andy Petkus photography)
A federal grand jury indicted cannabis company La Mota co-founder Rosa Cazares on eight counts of willful failure to collect, account for and pay over to the government federal withholding taxes, including income, Social Security and Medicare taxes, in the amount of $1.54 million, according to an October 15 press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Oregon and a copy of the indictment.
If convicted, Cazares could face up to five years in federal prison per count, criminal fines potentially totaling $2 million or more in total, and restitution.
The U.S. Attorney Office’s press release says the Cazares indictment is “one of several major fraud cases being prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Oregon in conjunction with the Department of Justice’s national fraud enforcement efforts. Additional matters are pending.”
The indictment follows Oregon Roundup Foundation’s exclusive October 13 reporting about La Mota, Cazares and fellow co-founder’s exploding state marijuana and income tax debt accrued while the state continued to renew cannabis retail licenses under 2023 tax rules ordered by Gov. Tina Kotek after reporting by Willamette Week exposed a La Mota-affiliated company hired then-Secretary of State Shemia Fagan as a $10,000-per-month consultant while her office conducted an audit of state cannabis regulations.
The new federal indictment alleges Cazares, in her role as CEO of La Mota and 503 Staffing, LLC, failed to properly withhold and pay to the government employment withholding taxes from the first quarter of 2020 through the fourth quarter of 2021. It alleges 503 Staffing exists solely to process payroll for La Mota and related entities.
The charges carry a six-year statute of limitations, which could explain the decision to charge Cazares for the 2020-2021 time period now. A spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney’s Office declined to comment on the scope of the investigation, citing its ongoing nature.
La Mota, Mitchell, Cazares and a political action committee run by Cazares contributed over $68,000 to Kotek’s 2022 governor campaign, with $38,000 of that sum paid in cash, according to Willamette Week. Receipt of significant cash campaign contributions was legal, if rare, at the time. Kotek’s campaign later contributed $75,000 to her former employer, Oregon Food Bank, as she and other recipients of La Mota largesse sought to distance themselves from the company and its owners.
The legislature banned cash contributions in sums exceeding $100 per year following reporting of La Mota’s habit of making large cash donations, some of it delivered in brown paper bags, to Oregon Democrats.
In 2024, the U.S. Attorney’s Office was reportedly investigating La Mota-affiliated Veriede Holdings, LLC, Cazares and Mitchell in connection with Veriede’s hiring of Shemia Fagan, then Secretary of State, as a consultant. Oregon Roundup Foundation reported the investigation into Fagan was terminated on December 20, 2024, the same day then-Attorney General Merrick Garland met with then U.S. Attorney Natalie Wight in Portland during the waning weeks of the Biden Administration.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office spokesperson declined to comment on whether the investigation that led to the Cazares indictment was part of the 2024 probe, or a new one, again citing the active nature of the probe.
The indictment presents charges only. Cazares remains innocent until proven guilty.
Oregon Roundup Foundation created this article. ORF is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation dedicated to covering Oregon political and government news. Media outlets are welcome to use this article for free with attribution of the author and Oregon Roundup Foundation.