Green Mountain Falls man pleads guilty to growing 374 marijuana plants
The address said Pecan Street, but the crop was marijuana.
As a result, Rodney L. Jobe of Green Mountain Falls pleaded guilty Friday in U.S. District Court in Denver to cultivating 374 marijuana plants inside a commercial building at 1351 Pecan Street in Colorado Springs.
The plants were being grown for a medical marijuana operation, said Jobe’s lawyer Kevin F. Donovan. But they were not part of a recent series of searches conducted by police on medical marijuana growing operations, he said.
Jobe, 45, will be eligible for less than the mandatory minimum of 5 years in prison when he is sentenced on Sept. 10 by Judge Philip A. Brimmer, Donovan said
Jobe qualified for a sentence below the minimum under the “safety valve” exemption to federal sentencing guidelines, Donovan said. Jobe qualified because he has no prior criminal history, did not use a weapon or threat of violence, there was no conspiracy involved and he has been compliant and truthful with federal authorities, his lawyer said.
The case came to light in January when a neighbor told Colorado Springs police that electricians were coming and going from the 1,800 square-foot building that Jobe had leased for his motorcycling painting business since the 1980s.
However, there was no permit posted for the work, the neighbor said. He also noticed the smell of “unburnt marijuana” coming from the building.
According to a search warrant affidavit, Jobe told the neighbor that he was allowed to have up to 99 marijuana plants because the federal government would not arrest him for having less than 100 plants. He offered to put in filters and a short time later the neighbor reported there was little to no smell.
Police checked electricity records and found that Jobe’s business was using on average five times the amount of electricity than comparable businesses in December 2009. They also checked power usage at Jobe’s home in Green Mountain Falls and found it was using four times more electricity as other nearby homes.
Utility records at the Pecan Street address listed to Carewest LLC, the affidavit stated. During a January 29 search, police found 374 plants, including 200 mature plants, according to court records.
Jobe’s plea came three days before Gov. Bill Ritter signed a bill requiring licensed dispensaries to grow 70 percent of their marijuana. Federal law still prohibits marijuana cultivation, but in practice, enforcement is reserved for large operations.
Jeff Dorschner, a spokesman for the U.S. Attorney’s office, said there is no 100 plant limit on federal prosecution. But as a matter of policy, he said prosecutors focus mainly on major drug trafficking operations where the mandatory minimum of five years applies. That minimum sentence kicks in for marijuana operations of 100 plants or more.
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