Seattle Pizza-shop owner in court on pot charges

The owner of a Seattle pizza shop and a historic theater in Bend, Ore., pleaded not guilty Monday to charges that he imported more than a ton of marijuana into the United States from Canada.

David R. Mendoza, 44, made his initial appearance in federal court in Seattle a few days after being extradited from Spain, where he was arrested nearly a year ago. He came under investigation in September 2005, when Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents saw him and two other people at the scene of a 500-pound drop in the Okanogan National Forest in Eastern Washington, court documents say.

Mendoza has owned Pazzo's Restaurant in Seattle's Eastlake neighborhood since 1998, as well as the Liberty Theater in Bend, built in 1917. He grew up in the affluent gated community of Broadmoor in Seattle, and was class president at Garfield High School before graduating from the University of Washington in 1989.

But he also has a long history in drug trafficking, federal prosecutors say.

He was convicted of conspiring to import hashish, and to distribute cocaine and hashish, in 1993 in Seattle, and he was convicted in 1990 of cocaine possession.

For that reason he faces more serious penalties if convicted of the six counts he currently faces: at least 10 years and up to life in prison for marijuana conspiracy and possession charges, as well as related money-laundering and financial-structuring charges.

Prosecutors are seeking to have Mendoza forfeit three properties, which they say he used either to launder money or as part of his drug trafficking: the theater, which he bought for $745,000 in 2002; his home in Bellevue; and a house in Deer Park, north of Spokane.

In addition, he owns a Seattle construction company — ETA Construction. Another defendant, Danny Zylstra, is accused of delivering 400 pounds of marijuana to a client in Seattle's Seward Park neighborhood in a truck registered to the company.

Mendoza speaks fluent Spanish, his father said. He fought extradition to the U.S.

He did not contest the government's request to have him detained until his trial, which is scheduled for June 29.