BRYAN W. GRUETTER

HOW MUCH DOES HE OWE? $397,236

THE BACKSTORY: Gruetter once ran thriving legal offices in Portland and Bend—until 2012, when the Oregon State Bar took over his law practice after a series of clients’ complaints. It turned out he’d been using their settlements to cover personal expenses.

SAINTS INC.

HOW MUCH DOES IT OWE?

$444,373

THE BACKSTORY: Saints Inc. is the holding company behind the Portland-area cannabis endeavors of Jesce Horton and Dave Murray, who are listed in state filings as the company’s principals. Their holdings include the popular cultivator LOWD (“Love Our Weed Daily”).

LOWD, however, is not the Oregon Department of Revenue’s target. Instead, it’s Saints Inc.’s new upmarket marijuana delivery service, OWTLET, which faces a massive tax bill after it failed to file its quarterly tax returns. Horton says the DOR has vastly overestimated the new business’s sales.

Horton, an industry pioneer, left a corporate job to follow his passion cultivating cannabis— and to help others do the same. He’s founder of both the Minority Cannabis Business Association and the NuProject, which partnered with Prosper Portland to distribute $30,000 grants to local Black-owned cannabis businesses.

Saints Inc. has been a widely touted success in recent years. In 2021, Horton told Forbes his company was on track to make nearly $1.5 million in annual profits. The following year, the founders were the only Portland names on Forbes’ list of 42 “pioneers to watch in the green gold rush.”

Still, not all of their plans have panned out. A 23,980-square-foot North Portland warehouse that Horton planned to turn into a dispensary is now up for sale, at an asking price of $4 million.

The swindle sent shock waves through the Oregon legal community. Not only did it wipe out the bar’s “Client Security Fund,” which paid up to $50,000 to cheated clients, but it raised questions about the bar’s integrity: Gruetter was the former chairman of its legal ethics committee.

He was convicted of wire fraud, sentenced by a federal judge to five years in prison, and ordered to pay $1.1 million in restitution after he admitted, prosecutors say, to “robbing Peter to pay Paul.”

Gruetter spent three and a half years in California and Oregon prisons. But he has not repaid the debt. He’s currently on a $200 per month payment plan—not including the 25% of his paycheck that’s garnished by the state of Oregon for unpaid taxes.

WHAT DO THEY SAY?

DOR’s delinquent taxpayer database online says OWTLET owes more than $400,000 in marijuana taxes, 17% of retail transactions. But the exclusive delivery business has been operating for less than a year, Horton says, and has made only $7,000 in revenue. He says he’s submitting paperwork to the state to prove it.

“I damn near committed suicide because they’re sending me something saying I owe half a million dollars,” Horton says. “It’s that ridiculous.”

What The Back Taxes Could

BUY: Nearly 15 economic justice grants from the NuLeaf Project. LUCAS MANFIELD.

Last year, in a Washington County divorce petition, he listed his various disputed debts: $395,000 to the state, $263,000 to the Internal Revenue Service, and $1.1 million to the U.S. Treasury.

INTERESTING DETAIL: During his prison stint, Gruetter got sober and played bass in an inmate band.

WHAT DOES HE SAY? Gruetter tells WW that his problems with the Oregon Department of Revenue stem from a personal income tax return he failed to file in 2010. Since then, he says, penalties and fees have inflated the debt far beyond what he can afford to pay.

Gruetter says he’s currently living paycheck to paycheck in a rental in Cedar Mill, earning $20.30 an hour as a full-time puppy trainer. “It’s what I should have been doing my whole life,” he says.

WHAT THE BACK TAXES COULD BUY: One year’s salary for five forest managers at the Oregon Department of Forestry.

On the previous page, you’ll find a commemorative poster of Portland Thorn and World Cup star Sophia Smith. It felt like the right moment to create a memento celebrating Smith. This week, after all, is her ascension to the international stage after three years winning the hearts of fans in Goose Hollow. Even in a city where women’s soccer rules, few players have matched Smith’s skill and poise, and nobody else rocks a bubble braid with such style. We could all use somebody to cheer for this summer. Smith is giving us that—and how. SHANNON DAEHNKE.

Get to know her with a few key stats:

AGE: 22

POSITION: Forward for the Portland Thorns and the U.S. women’s national soccer team

HOMETOWN: Windsor, Colorado

ARRIVED IN PORTLAND

IN: 2020. Smith played two seasons at Stanford University and led the Cardinal to the 2019 NCAA championship before being drafted by the Portland Thorns FC in the 2020 NWSL college draft. She was the No. 1 pick overall, and we got her… thank God. Though her Portland Thorns debut was delayed by the pandemic and an injury, Smith came in hot in September 2020, scoring her first professional goal within minutes of stepping onto the field at Providence Park.

GOALS SCORED FOR THE THORNS SINCE THEN: 31.

It’s a lot. Like…that’s pretty much her whole thing. Well, that, and upgrading the iconic “soccer braid” to a much more with-the-times bubble braid. Anyways…in Smith’s second full season in the NWSL in 2022, she scored 14 goals for Portland—a club single-season record.

HER TOP MOMENT AS A THORN: Smith was named the NWSL’s 2022 MVP—the youngest ever. She was also the top scorer for both the Thorns and the U.S. women’s national team, and was voted the 2022 BioSteel U.S. Soccer Female Player of the Year. But you probably best remember her for scoring the first goal of the NWSL Championship game, then celebrating with an iconic shrug.

She dedicated the shrug to her doubters. “There’s been a lot of people who don’t think that I deserved to win MVP,” she told USA Today. “So that was a little bit of, you know, that’s that.”

HER FAVORITE MUSICAL ARTISTS: Kane Brown,

Beyoncé, Rihanna, Adele and Cardi B.

FAVORITE TAYLOR

SWIFT SONG: “Love Story” or “Enchanted”

WHERE SHE CAN BE SPOTTED IN PORTLAND: Going on hot girl walks to Trader Joe’s.

WHAT HER COACH SAYS ABOUT HER: “She’s extremely explosive,” Thorns head coach Mike Norris says. “World-class pace when she’s running with the ball at her feet. On top of that, just really good quick release…the ability to get shots off without any cues or triggers.”

WHAT SHE SAYS ABOUT HER GAME: “I shoot all the time,” she says on TikTok. “Like, any chance I get to shoot, I shoot.”

HOW SHE’S DOING IN THE WORLD CUP: In her World Cup debut July 21, Smith scored two goals in the first half, leading the U.S. team to victory against Vietnam. Smith then won player of the match, which was presented to her by her father. In a 1-1 draw with the Netherlands, she nearly scored the tie-breaking goal—it was deflected from the net by an opposing player. A July 31 draw with Portugal was forgettable for the entire squad, including Smith.

WHERE TO WATCH HER PLAY: A Women’s World Cup round of 16 watch party this weekend at The Sports Bra, 2512 NE Broadway. The party begins at 2 am Sunday, Aug. 6. Closer to home, the World Cup’s conclusion sets up Smith for a homecoming with the Thorns in a match against Seattle at 7:30 pm Saturday, Sept. 16.

IF SHE WEREN’T A SOCCER PLAYER, SHE’D BE: An interior designer with her own HGTV show. She told Yahoo Sports she doesn’t compare herself to past players: “I’m the first and only Sophia Smith.”

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SAMANTHA

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