A Portland woman pulled up in a Tesla with her two young children strapped into car seats to deliver marijuana to an undercover Lake Oswego officer who had negotiated to buy the drug from her on Snapchat.
The sting followed an investigation into a woman who went by the name of “Night Church” on the social media site and was selling drugs to teenagers near schools and parks across the metro Portland area, according to Lake Oswego police.
When Yue Zhang Rotbart was arrested on May 23, 2023, in Lake Grove, her Tesla was filled with drugs and alcohol, police said.
Grocery bags of psilocybin mushrooms, cases of White Claw Hard Seltzer and bottles of cotton candy-flavored vodka were found among rolled marijuana cigarettes, hash oil and strawberry- and green apple-flavored vape cartridges in the Tesla, the records showed.
Her children, ages 2 and 4, were riding in car seats in the back seat, their feet dangling above cases of hard seltzer, police said.
Rotbart, now 34, pleaded guilty earlier this year to first-degree child neglect and possessing a controlled substance in Clackamas County Circuit Court. She was sentenced in February to 20 days in jail and three years of probation and ordered to undergo a substance abuse evaluation and treatment program.
Her children were taken into temporary state custody upon Rotbart’s arrest but returned to their home, according to court records.
Among the drugs seized from Yue Rotbart's Tesla were nearly 300 bags of marijuana, more than 60 flavored marijuana extract cartridges, bags with pre-rolled marijuana joints, bindles of butane hash oil, sandwich bags containing psilocybin mushrooms, nicotine vape cartridges, sweet-flavored cigarettes and fruit-flavored alcohol, according to police.Lake Oswego Police
Lake Oswego police initiated their investigation after receiving a tip. A school resource officer also told investigators that he had learned someone who went by “Night Church” was delivering drugs to local students near a Plaid Pantry on Pilkington Road and other locations, according to the police reports.
A Lake Oswego detective using an undercover Snapchat account connected with “Night Church,” arranged to buy an eighth of an ounce of marijuana for $30 and to meet behind the Happy Sparrow Cafe off Jean Road, less than three miles from Lakeridge High School, according to the police reports.
“Night Church,” since identified as Rotbart, asked the buyer to send her a photo of the cash so she could verify the buyer had all the money for the deal, the reports said.
At 2:14 p.m. on May 23, 2023, “Night Church” sent a message on Snapchat, asking, “Wya,” for “Where you at?” She also sent a photo of the cafe’s back parking lot.
Police moved in a minute later and surrounded the white Tesla in the back lot. Rotbart claimed she had pulled into the back lot to let her 4-year-old son out of the car to use the bathroom, according to police reports.
Officers arrested Rotbart and searched the car, finding cases of White Claw Hard Seltzer and Twisted Tea alcoholic beverages on the floorboard of the back seat, according to the reports.
Inside the car, police also found nearly 300 bags of marijuana, more than 60 flavored marijuana extract cartridges, bags with pre-rolled marijuana joints, bindles of butane hash oil, sandwich bags containing psilocybin mushrooms, nicotine vape cartridges, sweet-flavored cigarettes and fruit-flavored alcohol. The trunk was filled with grocery bags containing marijuana brownies, marijuana seeds and psilocybin mushrooms, according to police. They also found a valid Oregon medical marijuana card in Rotbart’s name, according to the reports.
Police seized Rotbart’s pink iPhone and obtained a warrant to search it, finding 5,000 messages between “Night Church” on Snapchat and more than 400 different people inquiring about drugs for sale and negotiating delivery and price.
In May alone last year, a 14-year-old Lake Oswego girl bought a blueberry-flavored vape cartridge for $50 from “Night Church,” a 16-year-old Portland Snapchat user arranged to meet “Night Church” outside a Portland elementary school to buy joints, a 15-year-old Portland girl bought a vape pen and cartridge from “Night Church” near another elementary school in Northeast Portland, a 15-year-old Portland girl arranged to buy edible brownies from “Night Church” and a 16-year-old West Linn boy bought joints and Pink Whitney alcohol for $90 from “Night Church,” according to the police reports.
Lake Oswego officers contacted many of the teenagers’ parents and confirmed the drug sales by talking to the teens involved, the reports indicated.
Sgt. Tom Harper, a Lake Oswego police spokesperson, said the department is thankful for the tips received about the Snapchat account and for the detectives who stopped Rotbart “from supplying drugs to our kids.”
At the time of sentencing, the state couldn’t charge Rotbart with distribution of controlled substances, based on the amount of drugs seized from her car, due to a 2021 state Court of Appeals ruling that banned a longstanding practice of charging people with drug dealing if they’re caught with large amounts of drugs and drug supplies, said Chris Owen, a Clackamas County chief deputy district attorney.
That restriction was recently addressed in House Bill 4002 signed into law by Gov. Tina Kotek this week that effectively reinstates the legal standards that existed before the court ruling by expanding the definition of drug dealing to include possession of a controlled substance with the intent to deliver it. It does not require an intent to sell. The bill also adds the prospect of a longer sentence for selling drugs within 500 feet of a substance abuse treatment facility or homeless shelter or within 30 feet of a park.
-- Maxine Bernstein covers federal court and criminal justice. Reach her at 503-221-8212, mbernstein@oregonian.com, follow her on X @maxoregonian, or on LinkedIn.
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