Underground pot grow was accessed by secret elevator

PRIEST RIVER - A subterranean marijuana growing operation accessed by a secret elevator was discovered on a Bonner County couple's property on Thursday.

Carl Wayne Cliff, 61, and Marte Gail Cliff, 60, were arrested without incident and charged with trafficking marijuana and aiding and abetting trafficking. Carl and Marte Cliff's bails were set on Friday at $50,000 and $20,000, respectively.

The couple did not qualify for the services of a court-appointed public defender, records show. It was unclear Friday if the Cliffs had secured private counsel.

The Cliffs' son was reportedly working on Friday to secure bond so his parents could be released. The Cliffs could not be reached for comment Friday night. Calls to their home were met with a busy signal.

Agents from the Bonner County Sheriff Narcotics Unit and the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency served a search warrant at 1794 Blue Lake Rd. and found 45 growing pot plants and nearly 7 pounds of harvested pot, according to Sheriff's Sgt. Ror Lakewold.

Authorities estimated the combined street value of the live and dried marijuana at $70,000.

Carl Cliff was confronted about the growing operation and led agents to a workshop with a floor drain which concealed a makeshift elevator, court documents said. The covert elevator was fashioned from a scissor lift, Sheriff's Det. Victor Vachon told a judge on Friday.

The hidden passageway led to two grow rooms, one of which contained 24 mature plants and a freezer which held 6.8 pounds of harvested pot. The other room contained 21 less mature plants, court records indicate. Various sets of scales agents believed were used to weigh the drugs were also discovered.

During questioning, Carl Cliff denied growing the pot for sale and told detectives he was giving it to friends. But Bonner County Deputy Prosecutor Louis Marshall questioned if the amount of growing and packaged pot squared with his statements.

“Are those consistent with personal use?,” Marshall asked Lakewold during a Friday hearing where the criminal complaints were sworn.

Lakewold said the amounts, along with financial records indicating the couple was living beyond its means, suggested it was a commercial endeavor.

Marte Cliff reluctantly acknowledged knowing about the growing operation, but reportedly told detectives she did not participate in it. Lakewold told Judge Barbara Buchanan that Marte Cliff indicated she “likes to keep her head in the sand.”

It's the second time since 2006 a well-known Priest River family has been caught up in a drug scandal.

John “Phillip” Keyser and Texanna Keyser, the former owners of the Village Kitchen in Priest River, pleaded guilty last month in federal court to laundering nearly $1 million generated from an interstate drug ring. Their son, Priest River mortgage broker Jerod Lee Keyser, was first implicated in the laundering scheme.

The Keysers are awaiting sentencing.

The Cliffs are longtime Priest River residents. Marte Cliff operated a realty business and Carl Cliff ran a construction company until two years ago. Marte Cliff has been involved with the Priest River Chamber of Commerce's annual fireworks displays and helped start the Priest River Animal Rescue.