On 28 July 2010 Trace Rae Thoms, 46, and Jennifer Anne Thoms, 36, of Wasilla were arraigned in federal court in Anchorage on charges of conspiracy to grow marijuana, possession with intent to distribute, maintaining a place to grow marijuana, and conspiracy to launder more than $1 million in drug proceeds.[1] A federal grand jury had returned the four-count indictment on 23 July; it also sought forfeiture of the couple’s Scarlet Circle property, jewellery, snow machines and vehicles.[1]
According to the indictment, the couple conspired for about six years, laundering the proceeds through two businesses they ran, Ace the Painter and Plow Now, and other transactions.[1] Officers from the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Internal Revenue Service and the Alaska State Troopers arrested them on 27 July, and the court ordered them detained.[1] A state-trooper search of their Wasilla property on 22 February 2010 had already uncovered about 500 marijuana plants and other evidence of a commercial grow.[2]
Prosecutors said Trace Thoms faced up to life in prison with a ten-year mandatory minimum and Jennifer Thoms up to forty years with a five-year minimum, plus a potential $4 million fine.[1]
