Former Democratic operative settles $1.2 million debt with South Dakota cannabis growers

Marijuana plants at a 605 Cannabis grow operation. Courtesy photo.

Former Minnesota DFL political operative Will Hailer paid $1.2 million to settle a lawsuit brought by two South Dakota cannabis companies and their investors accusing him of fraud.

The case ends a two-year saga that began when Hailer approached 605 Cannabis founder Ned Horsted with an attractive business opportunity for him and the two founders of another cannabis company, Dakota Natural Growers.

Hailer promised he would bring in an additional $7.5 million in investment for the cannabis growers if they gave him the $3.54 million they raised from friends, family and acquaintances.

Hailer, who previously worked for the Democratic National Committee and for Attorney General Keith Ellison, met Horsted years before through Democratic politics.

“He tells a great story,” Horsted said of Hailer in an interview earlier this year. “It made sense in my mind. If you’re well connected, and you could pick up the phone and get someone to give $100,000 to a campaign, you could probably get that same kind of money for a business venture.”

The additional investment never materialized despite months of promises that the money was just days or weeks aways, according to court documents.

Hailer returned $1.86 million in August 2022 and another $500,000 in October 2023 after the cannabis business owners and their investors sued Hailer and three of his companies, eST Ventures, Badlands Fund and Badland Ventures.

The latest settlement and $1.2 million payment means the cannabis entrepreneurs and investors have received all of their own money back after giving Hailer control of it in early 2022.

Jason Tarasek, the attorney for the cannabis companies, declined to comment beyond that they “amicably resolved their dispute.” The case was settled in Nebraska, where Hailer lives.

It’s unclear how Hailer was able to pay the settlement. As the Reformer reported in June , discovery documents in the case showed Hailer had less than $750 combined across various business and personal bank accounts.

Hailer did not respond to an email seeking comment.

Hailer still faces litigation — along with his business partner Tim Mynett, husband of U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar — by an investor in the pair’s California winery, eStCru.

In that case, investor Naeem Mohd gave Mynett $300,000 for a  winery on the promise Mohd  would receive $900,000 back in just 18 months. Mohd only received his $300,000 back.

Mynett was a founder of eSt Ventures, which was named in the cannabis lawsuit, but he said he left the company before the deal with the South Dakota cannabis companies.

Although the business is typically called eSt Ventures, Omar listed spousal income from “EstVenture LLC” of $5,001-$15,000 in 2021 and $15,001-$50,000 in 2022 .

In her latest congressional financial disclosure filed in May , Omar reported spousal income in 2023 of $201-$1,000 from eStCru and $15,0001-$50,000 from Rose Lake Capital, a venture capital management firm founded by Mynett and Hailer.