La Mota Dispensary CEO indicted

Rosa Cazares, CEO of La Mota LLC and 503 Staffing LLC, has been indicted by a federal grand jury in Portland, Oregon, on eight criminal counts involving approximately $1.54 million in allegedly unpaid federal payroll taxes.

This isn't a licensing dispute or an administrative citation. It's a federal criminal prosecution targeting the financial conduct of a business executive. The indictment was announced by the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Oregon on October 15th, 2026.

Death and Taxes…

According to the Department of Justice, Cazares oversaw financial affairs for La Mota and 503 Staffing, a payroll processing business. Prosecutors allege she was responsible for collecting, properly accounting for, and remitting three categories of employee payroll taxes:

• Federal income tax withholding.

• Social Security taxes.

• Medicare taxes.

The government alleges that over eight calendar quarters between 2020 and 2021, these obligations were not properly fulfilled. Each quarter forms the basis of a separate criminal count under 26 U.S.C. § 7202, which prohibits willful failure to collect, account for, or pay over employment taxes.

When employees receive paychecks, their employers generally withhold federal income taxes and the employee portions of Social Security and Medicare taxes. Those withheld funds are held in trust for the federal government. They're not discretionary working capital that a company can decide to use elsewhere. For prosecutors to establish criminal liability under this statute, they must prove the required conduct was willful, rather than merely an accounting error or an inability to pay.

Lien with it

On August 23rd, 2026, Willamette Week reported that Oregon's Department of Revenue had issued five tax liens totaling more than $7.9 million against La Mota owner Aaron Mitchell and dozens of associated LLCs.

The reporting identified a June lien involving $5.5 million in unpaid taxes, including $3.4 million in personal income tax associated with 2021. Additional liens involved state withholding, product excise taxes, and corporate activity taxes.

These liens are separate from Cazares' new federal criminal indictment. The figures should not simply be added together as a confirmed total liability, because different assessments can overlap and may include penalties and interest.

Wild Child

In 2023, former Oregon Secretary of State Shemia Fagan resigned after it emerged that she had accepted a $10,000-per-month consulting contract with a company affiliated with La Mota's owners.

Her office had overseen an audit involving the Oregon Liquor and Cannabis Commission, the agency regulating La Mota.

Investigative reporting established that Fagan had encouraged auditors to consult Cazares and had incorporated some of her feedback into an audit-planning document. The consulting arrangement raised serious conflict-of-interest questions.

Federal subpoenas followed in 2023, seeking information about Fagan, Mitchell, Cazares, and their companies. However, the October 2026 indictment does not charge political corruption, bribery, or misconduct relating to Fagan. There is no established public link showing that those earlier subpoenas produced these particular tax charges.

Uncle Sam

The significant issue here is not simply the alleged $1.54 million liability. It's the larger pattern of financial obligations reported across multiple companies, years, and jurisdictions.

For operators, three separate risks stand out: personal criminal exposure for executives responsible for payroll-tax compliance, possible regulatory consequences when an owner faces qualifying legal proceedings, and financial pressure on employees, creditors, vendors, and ongoing operations.

Having a separate payroll-processing LLC does not necessarily protect the individual responsible for collecting and remitting employee tax withholdings.

The case also raises an important distinction: a business can continue expanding and generating sales while carrying substantial unresolved tax liabilities. Sales growth, store count, and licensing activity alone are not proof of financial health.