After driving to southern Oregon from Texas, the men prepped for their planned operation — a drug ripoff from a major marijuana grow.
Shortly after arriving at the Clarion Pointe Hotel in Medford in February 2022, they mugged for photos in front of drawn drapes in Room 103.
They posed in their disguises, dressed in dark clothes and masks, wearing hats and sweatshirts marked “DEA” or “police.” They also donned body armor, with guns and rifles at the ready, according to photos in court records.
But the disguises weren’t enough to conceal a violent home invasion robbery days later and an attempt to seize about 1,000 pounds of pot from an unlicensed marijuana grow, federal prosecutors said.
Even a hotel clerk noted on paperwork about the men after they checked in: “Sketchy.”
On Thursday, the first two of the six men arrested were sentenced for their roles in the robbery.
Jordan Allen Gammage, 22, received nine years and three months in prison and Alan JaasielLopez, 23, received five years and 10 months.
Both men pleaded guilty to conspiracy to interfere with commerce by robbery and conspiracy to possess with the intent to distribute 100 kilograms or more of marijuana.
The other four have entered guilty pleas and are awaiting sentencing in federal court in Medford.
U.S. District Judge Mustafa T. Kasubhai highlighted the time the men took to plan, prepare and execute the crime and how they terrorized the victims for “about 20 long minutes.” He noted that two children, ages 3 and 7, were among those present when the men burst in with rifles and pistols.
“Innocent children don’t deserve to be exposed to the kind of terror you imposed on them,” Kasubhai told Gammage.
Prosecutors said the group hit the grow in rural Grants Pass on March 12, 2022, prompting a 911 hang-up call at 12:40 p.m.
They held a woman who was 7 months’ pregnant and four other adults along with the children inside a home, restrained them with zip ties and duct tape, assaulted at least one person and talked about “taking” another as a potential hostage, according to prosecutors.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Judith R. Harper called the “utterly shocking” case resembling something out of a Netflix movie, not typically seen in Oregon’s Rogue Valley.
“They did this posing as law enforcement,” she said. “This case wasn’t a spur of the moment crime. This took planning and strategizing.”
The group traveled to Oregon “because this stash of marijuana is so valuable in the state of Texas,” where it’s illegal to sell marijuana, Harper said. Their goal was to “make a whole lot of money,” she said.
Gammage’s fingerprint was lifted from a rifle recovered at the scene, Harper said.
Assistant Federal Public Defender Brian C. Butler argued for a sentence of five years for Gammage. Gammage was 19 at the time with no criminal record, turned himself in when he learned of the indictment and met the conditions of his pretrial release, Butler said.
He stopped using marijuana, completed a marijuana treatment course, had clean drug tests and maintained a job, Butler said.
Defense lawyers for both Gammage and Lopez said their clients “followed along” and were not the masterminds of the operation.
“I made an error of judgment and wasn’t really thinking about what could have happened,” Gammage told the judge and apologized to his victims.
Lopez’s lawyer, Larry R. Roloff, also said Lopez was fairly young, about 20 at the time, started abusing marijuana at age 12 and was influenced by his cousin, a co-defendant.
He is very ashamed and remorseful, Roloff told the court.
Lopez was the only one arrested at the scene and has spent about a year and a month in custody since he violated his pretrial release condition, arrested for possessing marijuana in Texas. He’s been in custody since Sept. 26, 2023, and will get credit for time served.
Gammage, Lopez and the four others had left San Antonio on Feb. 22, 2022, and arrived in southern Oregon five days later, after a stop in Las Vegas, according to Harper. They collected disguises and made purchases at a local Walmart, according to investigators, before trying to rob the marijuana grow on March 12, 2022, prosecutors said.
When Josephine County sheriff’s deputies arrived at the home at 1:06 p.m., they saw two men in body armor with radios standing outside the home and two cars running in the driveway with all their doors open. The armed men fled when deputies arrived.
Lopez was found in a wooded area nearby and initially denied any involvement, telling police he was just “exploring the woods listening to music,” according to Harper’s sentencing memo.
Yet investigators found incriminating photos of the men apparently preparing for the robbery on Lopez’s cellphone, as well as text messages they shared about their planned drug rip, the memo said.
Investigators found large containers and black trash bags filled with marijuana shoved inside a white Chrysler 300 sedan and a red Ford SUV left behind at the home with Texas license plates, according to court records.
Investigators found guns in the cars and on the ground near the home, as well as fake badges, shoes, bullets and a shell casing strewn on the ground. Two trailers and other buildings on the property appeared to have been broken into with several windows smashed out.
Authorities seized three AR-15 rifles, two handguns, one black plate vest with a “POLICE” patch, two DEA badges and one DEA hat from the scene, according to prosecutors.
The victims reported that the intruders pointed guns at them and kicked at least one of them. Some heard gunshots. One of the occupants of the home had seen the red SUV drive by the property the night before.
Kasubhai said he considered the relatively young age of the men involved but said he couldn’t ignore the seriousness of their crime.
The judge pointed out that during their travel to Oregon, “there were many opportunities for any one of you to have asked, ‘Is this the right thing to do?’” But none did, he said.
— Maxine Bernstein covers federal court and criminal justice. Reach her at 503-221-8212, mbernstein@oregonian.com, follow her on X @maxoregonian, or on LinkedIn.
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