Saturday, September 26, 2009

Lender's Rep Stumbles Into Indoor Pot Farm While Changing Locks At Home In Foreclosure; Cops "Bag" 60 Marijuana Plants, One Suspect

In Vero Beach, Florida, TC Palm reports:
  • Authorities on Thursday discovered a home going into foreclosure was being used as a marijuana grow house. Eric Sotero Martinez, 26, [...] was charged with cultivation and possession of marijuana with intent to distribute. He was also charged with possession of illegal mushrooms. [...] The operation [...] was owned by Martinez’s fiancee, according to his arrest affidavit.

  • A representative of a holding company went to the home to have the locks changed as part of foreclosure proceedings, the affidavit said. He told the Indian River County Sheriff’s Office he discovered the marijuana plants inside the home when he went to change the locks. Investigators found 60 marijuana plants in a bedroom of the Stockbridge home along with industrial lights, a carbon dioxide machine and several fans, the affidavit said. Martinez’s fiancee said the plants were the second crop he had grown, the affidavit said. Detectives also found more than a pound of packaged marijuana and four bags of mushrooms in the home. The case is still under investigation, but Martinez’s fiancee will not be charged, sheriff’s spokesman Deputy Jeff Luther said.

Source: Man changing locks on Vero Beach house finds leafy surprise inside. pot grow ops beta