11/15/11 Baberton man pleads in Millersburg marijuana grow operation

  • By Nick Sabo
  • November 15, 2011
  • 283
                        
SUMMARY: Prosecutor says no indication defendant was dealing A Barberton man pleaded guilty Tuesday Nov. 15 to running an indoor marijuana growing operation in a Millersburg apartment. John J. Wenker, 53, 168 19th St., pleaded in Holmes County Common Pleas Court to one count of attempted illegal cultivation of marijuana, a fourth-degree felony. The charge carries up to 18 months in prison. The case was scheduled for a jury trial Nov. 29. The charge stems from June 10, when Millersburg police executed a search warrant at Wenker’s Perkins Street residence. The search turned up 24 mature marijuana plants as well as 41 smaller plants. The residence was split between Wenker and another tenant. The operation took up most of the second floor, where Wenker lived. Police were notified about the marijuana growing upstairs while investigating a domestic disturbance June 9 involving the residence’s other tenants. Prosecuting Attorney Steve Knowling said there was no indication Wenker was selling the marijuana. The total weight of the marijuana was 1,632 grams, Knowling said. Wenker said he moved to Barberton shortly after the Perkins Street residence was raided. He said he has remained drug free. Common Pleas Judge Robert D. Rinfret ordered a presentence investigation and scheduled sentencing for Jan. 12. In the meantime, Rinfret ordered Wenker be subject to random drug screening. “The sentencing guidelines I’m bound by” favor a community control sanction such as jail or probation, Rinfret said. “I’m telling you, those sentencing guidelines go out the window if you test positive.”


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