Colorado Entitled to Restitution for Evaded Pot Excise Taxes

The Colorado Department of Revenue can be considered a “victim” entitled to restitution where a criminal defendant has evaded marijuana excise taxes, a state appeals court ruled in a case of first impression.

“No Colorado case has yet addressed whether the Department can be ‘aggrieved by’ the evasion of marijuana excise taxes so as to fall within the purview of the Restitution Act,” the Colorado Court of Appeals said Thursday.

A government entity that has been defrauded or to which taxes are owed has a cognizable interest in the lost revenue, Judge Terry Fox wrote for ...