After admitting to a sham marriage in order for an Ethiopian man to obtain permanent residence, Oregon Gov. John Kitzhaber’s fiancé, Cylvia Hayes, also addressed claims of a property deal that was intended to start a marijuana drug operation (KOIN):
Just four months after she married an Ethiopian man solely to help him become a US citizen, Cylvia Hayes was involved with a property she admits was intended to be an illegal marijuana grow operation.Hayes, the fiancee of Oregon Gov. John Kitzhaber, admitted publicly last Thursday she had an illegal secret marriage from 1997 until 2001. She said she was paid $5000 by the man, Abraham Abraham.
Public records show that in November 1997 — just four months after her marriage — she and another man bought a $245,000 piece of property with a $15,000 down payment.
The property is in remote Washington state, in Okanogan, near the Canadian border.
Patrick Siemion, who sold the property to Hayes and her boyfriend, told KOIN 6 News, “There was somewhat of a leader/follower there, and she was leading and the gentleman was following.”
Siemion said the pair soon stopped making payments and public records show Cyliva Hayes gave up her interest in the property in April 1998.
Her ex-boyfriend has history of domestic violence convictions, KOIN 6 News confirmed.
When he got the property back, Siemion said it was “obvious why they had chosen that property.”
“They had been growing marijuana,” he said.
Again, she released a statement on the matter:
Last Thursday I admitted that 17 years ago I was in the middle of a very difficult and unstable period of my life. I said then, and I’ll say again… I was associating with the wrong kind of people and making mistakes.I am not proud of that brief period of time – I was involved in an abusive relationship with a dangerous man. We lived together for several months on the property in Okanogan that was intended to be the site of a marijuana grow operation that never materialized. I was never financially involved with it. I did not pay any part of the down payment or mortgage payments. I had no money. The money I had received in July 1997 for entering a fraudulent marriage was used as I have previously stated — to purchase a lap top and pay school expenses.
In the spring of 1998 I began to make plans to get away. In July 1998 I moved to Central Oregon and began building a life and career that I am very proud of.
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Kitzhaber's Republican opponent, Rep. Dennis Richardson, isn't focusing on these recent developments for political attacks. Instead, he's putting Hayes' consulting work in the crosshairs, which he says paints the Kitzhaber administration as "inept and unethical."
The governor made a formal request to the Oregon Government Ethics Commission upon these recent revelations by his fiancé to see if any actions should be taken against her. Yet, the decision won't handed down before Election Day since these reviews can take up to 120 days.
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