Deputy given pot tour

A run-of-the-mill check into an abandoned car led a deputy to bust a man running a significant marijuana grow operation earlier this year, according to court documents.

Prosecutors charged the alleged grower, 48-year-old George Brown of Greenbank, in Island County Superior Court Sept. 24 with the manufacturing of marijuana.

If convicted, Brown could face up to six months in jail under the standard sentencing range.

According to a report by Deputy Lane Campbell with the Island County Sheriff’s Office, he was investigating a complaint about an abandoned car on Cranes Landing Road May 2 when he knocked on Brown’s door. It turned out that Brown had nothing to do with the car, but Campbell noticed “a very strong odor of marijuana” when Brown answered the door, court records show.

Campbell arrested Brown for suspicion of possessing marijuana. Brown initially refused to let the deputy into his house, but decided to give Campbell a tour of his pot growing operation after the deputy said he would apply for a search warrant, the report states.

“It should be noted that Brown was very cooperative, leading me into three different bottom floor bedrooms, all of which contained numerous marijuana plants in different stages of cultivation,” Campbell wrote.

In all, Brown had 97 pot plants, the report states, including 25 small potted plants he referred to as “his babies.” The growing operation consisted of grow lights, fans, hoods, reflective mylar walls, timers, watering systems, and a ventilation system, court documents state.

In addition, Brown showed the deputy the marijuana buds he kept under his bed as well as 14 plants he was trying to grow outside, the report states.

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