Trial ordered for man accused of growing pot
A Butler man is headed for trial on charges he grew and cultivated marijuana at his home.
According to testimony at his preliminary hearing Monday, 32-year-old Dennis A. Williams had a green thumb for the illegal crop.
Patrolman Jeremy Walters said police in March seized 118 marijuana plants from the house in the 600 block of Center Avenue where Williams lived with his wife.
District Judge Pete Shaffer at the hearing ordered Williams held for court on felony charges of manufacturing a controlled substance and possession with intent to deliver a controlled substance.
Shaffer also ruled that Williams be held on misdemeanor charges of possession of a controlled substance and drug paraphernalia.
Williams' wife, Jesse M. Williams, 27, previously waived her preliminary hearing on a conspiracy to manufacture a controlled substance charge in the same case. Each defendant is free on $3,000 bail.
Walters said he and other officers went to their house March 9 to serve Dennis Williams with an emergency protection from abuse order, PFA.
Jesse M. Williams, in seeking the PFA, noted in her application for the order that her husband had threatened her with a pistol, Walters said.
It did not take the officer long to sniff out the suspected marijuana grow operation. Dennis Williams reeked of raw marijuana when he greeted officers at the door, Walters said.
When police went into the house to retrieve the handgun and a shotgun, in accordance with the PFA, the telltale smell was more pungent.
“I smelled an even stronger odor of fresh unburned marijuana,” Walters testified.
After seizing the firearms and while leaving the house, the officer said, he noticed what appeared to be marijuana buds on the kitchen counter.
Walters said Williams admitted that he was drying out the buds as part of processing the illegal crop.
On cross-examination by Williams' attorney, Stephen Misko, the officer acknowledged that he did not notice the buds when he entered the house.
Walters said when he asked if there was any more marijuana in the home, Williams replied, “It's all in the basement.”
Walters told Misko that at the time of Williams' admission he was not under arrest or in police custody.
But following the admission, Williams was arrested and given his Miranda warnings.
Walters said police later that day got a search warrant for the house. The search proved fruitful.
In addition to the 118 potted marijuana plants, ranging in size up to 4 feet, officers found several containers of dried marijuana.
Additionally, Walters said, police found growing equipment and products.
