A decade after one of Canada’s biggest marijuana grow operation busts, legal problems still ensnare the former owner of the Molson brewery in Barrie, whose brother clandestinely operated a massive pot farm in the old brewing vats.

Despite two judges declaring that Vince DeRosa has every right to profit from the sale of the acreage and had no awareness of his brother’s operation, the provincial government still won’t let him have more than $4 million from the transaction. The government is preparing to argue for the chance to appeal the decision of Judge Mary Vallee, forming yet another legal roadblock in a years-long battle.

“I’ve been practising law for over 40 years. There are only a couple of examples in my career where I have seen what I believe more persistently abusive conduct by government,” said Brian Greenspan, the lawyer representing DeRosa and Fercan throughout the saga.

Brendan Crawley, spokesman for the Ministry of the Attorney General, refused to comment on the case, saying it would be “inappropriate” because it is still before the courts.

The troubles began back in 2004, when police busted the grow-op, one of the biggest in Canadian history. Ultimately it would be revealed in court that Robert DeRosa, Vince’s brother, played a key role in the operation of the pot farm.

Vince gave Robert the job of managing the Barrie property, located just south of town off of Highway 400, as a favour after he returned from an unsuccessful business venture in Cuba, said Greenspan. A number of companies set up on the 35-acre property and operated regularly, he said. Vince was establishing a bottled water plant using the Formosa spring, located onsite. Everything was ticking along as expected and not an eyebrow was raised, according to Greenspan.

But two companies were elaborate shams. Ontario Pallet and Barrie Fish were fronts for a round-the-clock growing operation that police said was capable of producing $8 million worth of marijuana per year, some of it grown in former brewing vats. The operation was tightly controlled and clandestine — workers had quarters to sleep in and were told only to leave the building at night. Even the pallet and fish companies were more than just imaginary entities.

“There was a guy who actually was trying to grow fish — only they died,” said Greenspan, who added that fisheries experts were brought on-site on one occasion. “There was a pallet company — they threw together some pallets as their cover. It was a very sophisticated operation run by a guy (Drago Dolic) who, in the States, is serving 20 years on other drug charges, and who has no association with Vince DeRosa.”

Though the bust occurred in 2004, it took police six years to track down the ringleaders and pursue criminal charges. Robert pleaded guilty in 2011 and was sentenced to seven years in prison. During his hearing, Robert apologized to his brother and said Vince knew nothing about the operation, according to Greenspan.

Greenspan said Vince was barely at the property while the grow-op was running — Fercan owns about 50 properties across the province and Vince has more than 500 tenants. But even those who were there regularly had no knowledge of the operation.

The property was purchased by Prime Real Estate Group, which has yet to apply for any new development permits, according to the area’s city councillor. The court case concerns the money from the sale and not the sale itself, leaving them free to develop but keeping Vince from his cash, said Greenspan.

Two judges agreed Vince was entitled to the money from the sale of the land. After a 36-day hearing in which the federal government argued against Vince getting the cash, Ontario Court Justice Peter West ruled that Vince had no knowledge of the grow operation his brother was involved in. The federal government did not appeal, but the province stepped in and Superior Court Justice Mary Vallee was asked to hear the case.

She accepted West’s ruling in that regard and added that to keep the money out of Vince’s hands would be “harsh.”

“I conclude that Mr. DeRosa and Fercan have clearly shown that an order to preserve the property would be manifestly harsh and draconian in the circumstances,” Vallee wrote in her April 24 ruling. “I find that an order to preserve the property would offend the community’s sense of fairness. Based on the record before me, I conclude that the interests of justice would not be served by preserving the funds from the sale of the property.”

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The province was granted a stay on the decision so that it could prepare arguments for a leave to appeal. The process has the potential to be long — should the original decision be overturned, it would only freeze the money for a further forfeiture hearing. Greenspan would not attempt to predict the outcome of the appeal, but noted Vince DeRosa’s track record so far.

“He’s become an unnecessary victim of government action. We have never lost, essentially. They’ve been able to get interim stays,” said Greenspan.