Former METAL CHURCH Bassist Charged With "Leading Organized Crime, Unlawfully Manufacturing A Controlled Substance And Money Laundering"
August 27, 2010, 14 years ago
Stacey Mulick from Thenewstribune.com is reporting:
Pierce County authorities say they’ve busted a three-county marijuana-growing operation they believe was led by a Puyallup man who once played bass in a local heavy metal band.
Investigators recently raided a number of homes, businesses and storage units allegedly tied to the operation, finding guns, homemade explosives, drugs and manufacturing equipment, court records show.
They also confiscated a number of assets owned by Stephen Wesley Ungerbuehler, including a boat, a truck, two cars, a motor home, a Harley-Davidson motorcycle and 20 guitars.
Investigators say Ungerbuehler, 41, led the operation from May 2008 until his arrest Monday and used two businesses in Spanaway and Thurston County to sell marijuana.
Prosecutors charged him Wednesday with leading organized crime, unlawfully manufacturing a controlled substance and money laundering. Pleas of not guilty were entered on his behalf.
He’s being held in Pierce County Jail in lieu of $100,000 bail.
Ungerbuehler was known as Steve Unger when he played bass for METAL CHURCH from 2004 to 2009. The group, which formed in 1980 under the name SHRAPNEL, disbanded last year.
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