Daily Mail: Hayes’ Former Lover Says Pot Farm Her Idea

Tuesday, October 21, 2014

GoLocalPDX News Team

Cylvia Hayes

The former lover of embattled First Lady Cylvia Hayes argues Gov. John Kitzhaber’s fiancee cannot be trusted and spearheaded the pot farm the two had in Washington.

“For some reason Cylvia always gets herself on the crooked road. She's sly,” Karl Topinka told the Daily Mail. I can't even tell you what I've sacrificed in my life for her. This guy's [Kitzhaber] doing the same. Look at what a powerful couple they could be, think of that responsibility. You can't abuse that but she did. How can you trust that person?”

Hayes went on a trip to Siberia in 1997, just months after Hayes had married an Ethiopian immigrant for cash, in a sham marriage scheme. He also said she didn't tell him about her illegal marriage.

Topinka, who Hayes had described as a "dangerous man" when news of her involvment in a pot-growing operations broke, told the Mail that in 1997 Hayes was in charge of setting up a marijuana growing operation in Washington's Okanogan Valley.

"That was all her," Topinka told the Mail. "I didn't want to be part of that at all but Cylvia had a plan."

This unveiling is just the latest in the saga of reports on Hayes. Hayes and Kitzhaber have been accused of ethics violations. Media stated that she has profited as a political consultant due to the access she has as the governor's fiancée.

Hayes confessed in a press conference earlier this month that she had an illegal marriage in which she was given $5,000 in order to help an Ethiopian immigrant gain U.S. citizenship.

Hayes was the co-owner of a house in Washington with Topinka that was intended for a marijuana-grow operation. The ownership of the farm took place in the late 1990s.

Topinka, according to the Daily Mail, has domestic violence convictions and has served jail time.