Two men who admitted their part in an outdoor cannabis growing operation involving more than 2,000 plants received conditional sentences last Wednesday.
Nathan John Harvey and Thomas Patrick Hughes were placed under house arrest subject to various conditions, including keeping the peace and being of good behaviour, curfews, travel restrictions and reporting to a supervisor.
They also received a weapons ban and community service work and were ordered to provide DNA samples to the RCMP.
In addition, Judge Bruce Garriock directed that items seized by law enforcers be forfeited. He imposed the conditional sentences for two years less a day.
Before sentencing, Harvey and Hughes expressed regret for what they had done.
“I have learned my lesson,” Harvey told Barrhead Provincial Court. “I would like a chance to continue caring for my family.”
Hughes said he felt humiliated as he stood before Garriock.
The court heard the outdoor marijuana cultivation was found in the Goose Lake area, northwest of Edmonton, during a joint operation involving the RCMP Green Team, Edmonton’s Emergency Response Team, city police and Barrhead RCMP detachment on August 8, 2011. The site is reported to be Crown land.
There was uncertainty about how much the plants were worth. Defence counsel Jan Ter Hart said $500 or $250 per plant were more realistic than original estimates of $1,000 per plant.
Prosecuting barrister Peter Newton agreed that the $1,000 figure was “a fair bit over the top.”
Last week’s hearing was a continuation of a case that had been adjourned for pre-sentencing reports.
Ter Hart said both his clients worked in the oil fields for Precision Drilling and had acquired skill sets that made them sought after and valued by their employer.
They had almost no criminal record and needed work to provide for themselves and their dependants, said Ter Hart.
He added that the pair were very cooperative with police after their arrests.
Ter Hart said the grow op was extensive in terms of the number of plants, but the operation was a primitive, outdoors one, with irrigation from a creek.
There was no suggestion of chemicals being involved, he said, no hydroelectricity. There were no greenhouses, no fortifications, no barbed wire, no patrols, and no signs of sophistication.
The Green Team moved into the area before anything could be harvested, Ter Hart said.
Ter Hart said $1,000 was routinely given as the estimated street value for a fully mature plant grown in optimal conditions. However, the marijuana in this case was of poor quality and worth a lot less.
Ter Hart said there was no suggestion that Harvey and Hughes reaped any significant profits in the role of tending crops.
In fact, they had suffered significant financial losses when their pick-up trucks and quads were seized, he added.
Ter Hart reckoned each man had lost $15,000 in personal property from his involvement in the operation.
Newton said law enforcement teams on August 8, 2011 found the outdoor marijuana cultivation in two locations after conducting surveillance. They moved in at 7:15 a.m.
Some 2,400 plants were discovered, said Newton. He added equipment used in the grow op was valued at $10,000.
Newton said Harvey and Hughes were very popular and well thought of in the area and had strong family networks supporting them.
“It makes one wonder why they got in such nonsense,” he said, adding they had been very cooperative with the police.
Newton said Hughes had experienced a rough, unpleasant upbringing and had left home at 14, later finding employment in the oil field, earning $150,000 in the last financial period.
“One wonders why he had to get involved in this sort of business,” he said.
Newton said Hughes attended church regularly and received a generally positive pre-sentencing report.
Harvey had also experienced an unhappy childhood, said Newton.
He added that Harvey had adopted a realistic and respectful attitude towards the police following his arrest.
Newton recommended a 12-month jail term, followed by 12 months of probation, for both defendants.
He also asked for forfeiture of items seized in the police operation.
Ter Hart said neither of his clients were working when they got involved in the grow op. “The rigs had been shut down for nine months,” he said.
“They made a bad decision. They were both financially pressured and fell back on a misguided attempt to make ends meet.”
Garriock said his sentence had to take into account the size of the marijuana crop and the role of Harvey and Hughes.
While they may only have been responsible for tending crops, they must have made numerous visits to the site, said Garriock.
However, there were several mitigating factors, added Garriock. These included guilty pleas, cooperation with police and very positive pre-sentencing reports.
It appeared, said Garriock, that Harvey and Hughes had embarked on “something very, very stupid” for financial reasons.
Garriock said he was persuaded this was a “one-off situation.”
