Sun, Jan 5th, 2013

http://www.gazettetimes.com/news/local/home-invasion-victims-charged-with-money-laundering/article_f2795a42-7411-11e3-a902-001a4bcf887a.html

Two men who claim to have been the victims of a November home invasion pleaded not guilty in Benton County Circuit Court on Thursday to money laundering charges following their arrest Dec. 3 on suspicion of dealing marijuana.

Roommates Tejay Brian Elliott, 20, and Taylor Hughes, 21, each initially faced a misdemeanor charge of maintaining a drug house and a felony charge of dealing marijuana within 1,000 feet of a school after Corvallis police officers carried out a search warrant of their residence at 1102 N.W. 23rd St. on Dec. 3.

Elliott was booked at the jail and released; Hughes was cited on scene in lieu of arrest.

The Benton County District Attorney’s Office chose not to follow through with the initial charges and, instead, charged the men with felony money laundering — accusing them of knowingly conducting financial transactions involving proceeds from illegal activities.

Elliott and Hughes each face one count of criminal conspiracy to engage in money laundering, and Elliott faces two additional counts of money laundering.

Neither Elliott nor his attorney, Walter Todd of Salem, returned a message Thursday afternoon for comment. Hughes’ attorney, Brett Jaspers of Corvallis, was out of the office Thursday afternoon and also didn’t immediately return a message.

Police became suspicious of Elliott and Hughes after responding to their residence Nov. 25 for a report of a home invasion. Elliott told police that three armed men entered his residence, demanded money from him and then hit him over the head before leaving with an undisclosed amount of cash, according to Lt. Cord Wood of the Corvallis Police Department.

No one has been arrested in the alleged home invasion.

Citing an open investigation, the Benton County District Attorney’s office and the Corvallis Police Department declined to discuss the case in more detail. Police have not disclosed whether there is a link between the alleged illegal activity in the house and the robbery, nor have prosecutors provided details about how the new charges came about.