Pubdate: Wed, 27 Aug 2008
Source: News-Press (Fort Myers, FL)
Copyright: 2008 The News-Press
Contact:  http://www.news-press.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1133
Note: MAP archives articles exactly as published, except that our 
editors may redact the names and addresses of accused persons who 
have not been convicted of a crime, if those named are not otherwise 
public figures or officials.

GROW HOUSE BUSTS: JAIL TIME NO SURE THING

Only Nine Of 46 People Convicted; 15 Cases Pending

Getting caught inside or near a marijuana grow house in Lehigh Acres 
doesn't necessarily lead to a long stay behind bars.

Nine of 46 people arrested in or near marijuana grow houses during a 
six-month period ending March 31 have been convicted, but 22 others 
escaped prosecution by the state attorney's office, according to a 
review of the cases. Fifteen cases remain pending.

The most severe sentence handed out so far is 46 months in prison 
plus fines and court costs totaling $26,786. That penalty was ordered 
for Diosledy Lezcano-Veliz, 23, who was brought up on trafficking and 
cultivation charges and claimed sole responsibility for 52 plants 
found at a house on Hatfield Street. Three others were arrested in 
the case. Two of them were not prosecuted and the third still faces 
charges stemming from that case.

Sheriff Mike Scott said it's the revolving door of justice. It's 
frustrating but not unexpected.

It's difficult to prove someone's involvement even though they might 
be found in a grow house, said Samantha Syoen, spokeswoman for the 
state attorney's office. Being able to prove someone is involved is 
one factor, but law enforcement often intimidates people into letting 
them into the house and that exposes a case to unlawful entry 
attacks, said attorney Rene Suarez, who has represented nine of the 46 people.

"That's a distortion. That sounds like something a defense attorney 
would say," said Lee County Sheriff's Capt. Dominick Ferrante of the 
narcotics unit.

Ferrante compared the approach used in many cases to a consensual 
conversation on the doorstep. Agents leave if people do not let them 
enter, he said. But it doesn't mean the investigation is over.

Most people who have avoided prosecution got off the hook when 
someone else claims sole responsibility for the crop in the house 
where they were arrested, according to a review of the cases provided 
by the State Attorney's Office. Lee County Clerk of Courts records 
also were used to update cases.

Six people managed to escape prosecution because of problems with law 
enforcement's entry into two grow houses, according to the State 
Attorney's Office.

The pending cases involve the common charges of cultivating, 
trafficking and possession of drug paraphernalia. But they also 
include three people charged with attempted murder or murder.

[REDACTED], who also was arrested at the Hatfield Street grow house, 
faces two counts of attempted murder. Deputies were shot at when they 
arrived at the house.

In another case, [REDACTED] faces two second-degree murder charges 
and [REDACTED] and [REDACTED] face a third-degree murder charge. The 
charges are related to an attempted robbery of a grow house at 
[REDACTED] 19th St. Southwest. Two men died and 90 plants were seized.

"Every case is different," Syoen said. No one factor leads to 
dismissal of charges or a decision not to charge someone, she said.

In many cases deputies were admitted to the homes after they knocked 
on the door, told the person who answered why they were there and 
asked for permission to enter. Deputies then arrested the people in 
the house or using the same address.

But making the charges stick gets difficult when one person claims 
responsibility for the crop, according to Syoen.

"We have to prove knowledge and the ability to exercise control over 
the contraband," Syoen said. Prosecutors can't assume that a person 
has the knowledge and control, she noted.

"The state has to prove every element of the crime. It makes it very 
difficult for the state," Suarez said.

The burden of proof gets heavier, he said, if other people in the 
house are not named on electric bills, or do not keep clothing and 
belongings at the house, Suarez said.

"Typically 95 percent of the home is in marijuana plants. How could 
someone not know what was going on?" Ferrante asked.

Common sense suggests they are involved, Ferrante said.

People who are in grow houses are there to grow marijuana, Ferrante said.

It's possible someone could be a visitor and that is taken into 
consideration when arrests are made, he said.

The weakness in some cases is how law enforcement carries out the 
"knock and talk" entry, Suarez said. They ask for permission to 
enter, but the permission has to be given voluntarily and the person 
has to have the reasonable ability to say no, Suarez said.

But it's intimidating when they see 10 or 15 armed deputies waiting 
to enter and they might assume the lawmen are going to come in 
anyway, Suarez said. Defense attorneys like himself would have a 
harder time if lawmen took more time to gather information for a 
warrant to enter, Suarez said.

The kind of information that leads the sheriff's office to knock on 
the door can produce a show of force, Ferrante said.

But typically just two detectives are present, Ferrante said.

One Lehigh resident believes the prosecution record is outrageous.

"They should all be in jail if they're doing it," said resident Buzzy Ford, 35.

He doesn't buy official explanations of what is going on, he said.

The public has to decide if having about 50 percent of the cases go 
unprosecuted is acceptable, Ferrante said.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom