Spokane marijuana business owner illegally sold wax and traded hundreds of pounds of weed for new car, police say

The owner of a local marijuana growing operation is facing criminal charges for allegedly selling large quantities of “weed wax” illegally.

After police searched his phone records, they found evidence he illegally sold hundreds of pounds of marijuana to a man in Indiana partly in exchange for a car, according to Spokane County Superior Court documents.

Police arrested Kristopher E. Wormell, 43, owner of Bigworm’s LLC, two weeks ago after they set up three buys of the weed wax, also called marijuana oil, from his Spokane home, the registered location of Bigworms, according to court documents.

Wormell is charged with three counts of selling a controlled substance. His bond was set at $5,000 and he was released after paying the bond, according to court records.

On April 10, April 17 and May 9, police used an informant wired with audio-recording devices to buy marijuana oil from Wormell, court documents say.

Marijuana wax is a highly potent form of the drug, with a THC content of about 90% compared to about 30% in marijuana plants. Weed wax is legal, but distributing any form of marijuana without a retail license is a felony in Washington that carries a sentence of up to five years in jail and a $10,000 fine.

Police arrested Wormell while he was driving a 2015 Dodge Challenger registered to a man in Indiana. After reviewing cellphone records, police found messages from Wormell and the Indiana man that indicated hundreds of pounds of marijuana were traded in part for the car, according to court documents.

Using a warrant, police searched Wormell’s house and found $1,984 in a paper bag, 12 guns, 1 pound of marijuana wax and about 15 pounds of marijuana in a garbage bag, a bucket and individually wrapped packages, according to court records.

Wormell’s possession of the guns is illegal because of a prior felony conviction for malicious mischief in 2003, according to court records.

Police referenced Wormell’s social media presence in court documents, noting he posted about shooting a .22-caliber rifle out of his window.