cannabisnews.com: Man's House May Be Seized In Pot Bust!





Man's House May Be Seized In Pot Bust!
Posted by FoM on July 27, 1999 at 11:46:29 PT
Tom Sowa - The Spokesman-Review
Source: Spokane Net
Spokane _ County and state drug agents have started an effort to confiscate a north Spokane man's mobile home, saying it was used to grow more than 100 marijuana plants seized in a raid.
Owner Jerry Miller, 59, was arrested after police seized the plants from his basement underneath the mobile home on Nov. 18.Miller, a locked-out Kaiser Aluminum carpenter, admits the pot was in his basement at 7214 N. Market.But he insists he doesn't smoke marijuana. He also said Monday that police have exaggerated the number of plants in his house. Instead of the 170 plants police say they found, the actual number was closer to 20, Miller said.Miller said he started growing pot last year "because I wanted to see if I could do it. I didn't see myself as a big seller or anything." He said he never sold any of the pot.He also said most of the plants in his basement died because he had no idea how to grow pot."Anyone who saw what I had would laugh. It was a joke."He said he gave away the few plants that reached maturity. The rest, Miller added, were dozens of dead or dying pot clones -- cuttings from another plant stuck inside dirt containers.Under the state's drug laws, prosecutors don't need to convict Miller of a drug offense to take his property. They only need to show he knowingly used his residence to grow, process, or sell an illegal drug. The law says it takes just five plants to qualify a property for forfeiture.The forfeiture complaint against Miller was filed Friday in Spokane County Superior Court. It also names his wife, Terri L. Miller, as co-defendant.The Millers have hired Spokane attorney Bevan Maxey to halt the forfeiture. The matter must be set for hearing within 90 days.After the plants were seized, police asked Miller to identify anyone he knew who might be a dealer. He said he knew no one in that line of work.Two charges were filed against him: growing marijuana and intent to sell the drug.Miller said he started the grow operation without his wife's knowledge in mid-1998.His wife, a diabetic, does not work. Miller said he's still collecting unemployment benefits, which are due to end next month.Miller said the forfeiture action against him may be another way for authorities to prod him to identify bigger dealers."If there's any purpose to them going after me, maybe it's just to teach people a lesson," Miller said.The purpose can't be to acquire valuable assets, he added. The tax value of the 1971 trailer and an adjoining garage are about $40,000."I made a big mistake, and that's the truth," he said. "But I admit it."Efforts to reach Assistant Attorney General Fred Caruso, who is handling the case, were unsuccessful Monday.Lisa Torgerson, who runs a day-care center down the street from Miller, said she was surprised to hear authorities were targeting Miller's house."We never had anyone in the neighborhood say anything about that house. No one ever asked me, either, if I had seen or heard anything suspicious going on there," Torgerson said.Pubdate: July 27, 1999http://www.fear.org/
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