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State Rep's Nose Leads Deputies To Pot Bust

Photo Courtesy of PINELLAS COUNTY SHERIFF'S OFFICE

Detectives say they found 29 live marijuana plants, and 131 marijuana root balls along with a large amount of harvested marijuana.

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By STEPHEN THOMPSON | The Tampa Tribune

Published: February 20, 2008

Updated: 02/20/2008 04:05 pm

PALM HARBOR If Timothy Stacy is wondering who tipped off authorities who say he had a about his alleged marijuana grow house operation, here's the answer: Rep. Peter Nehr, R-Tarpon Springs.

It also was Nehr who — despite any potential danger — wanted his role to be known.
The freshman representative is co-sponsoring anti-grow house legislation.

On Wednesday, Nehr said Wednesday that he stumbled on the operation while he was walking a friend's dog when he stumbled upon the operation in January.

The small dog slipped out of its collar and started running through yards until Nehr finally caught up with it, the lawmaker said. As he was taking the dog back to the sidewalk, he noticed a house at 85 S. Canal Drive had all of its windows taped up. He also noticed the wall-mounted air conditioners were on despite it being a chilly day, and that the electric meter had been tampered with.

And, Nehr also said, he noticed a vaguely familiar odor, one he remembers last smelling at a party in New York 30 years ago.

Nehr, who represents the district that includes the residence, immediately contacted Pinellas County Sheriff Jim Coats, and an investigation was launched. On Tuesday, sheriff's narcotics investigators waited until Stacy, the Holiday man renting the home, Timothy Stacy, returned to it and then arrested him on charges of trafficking and manufacturing marijuana.

The investigators also had a search warrant. Inside the house they found 29 live marijuana plants, and 131 marijuana root balls, along with a large amount of harvested marijuana.

All told, the more than 136 pounds of marijuana seized had a street value of more than $500,000, Pinellas sheriff's Sgt. Jim Bordner said. Investigators also seized three firearms, two crossbows and the equipment used to grow the marijuana.

Nehr decided to announce Wednesday that he was the tipster.

"For your information, I was the one who tipped the Sheriff's office as to the location of this possible grow house and I would be glad to speak with anyone who wants to know how that transpired," Nehr wrote in a release to "all Tampa Bay media outlets."]

In a telephone interview, he was a little more tortured about his decision.

"I had to think about it for a little while because I don't want to put myself in danger," said Nehr, who noted Stacy posted bail within hours of his arrest. "Don't you think someone might be upset about this? We're talking about a loss of a half million dollars."

"I'm taking a chance by saying I'm a tipster," Nehr said.

Ordinarily, the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office doesn't say who tipped it off to illegal activity, for fear doing so might dissuade others from giving investigators information in the future. It confirmed Nehr as the tipster in the Canal Drive search in part because Nehr is a public official, Bordner said.

Nehr said he decided to make his role public because, despite the potential threat, he wants to make people more aware that inside marijuana grow operations are increasingly sprouting up in residential neighborhoods

"I tell everybody I'm doing it because I want some education out there," he said. "People need to know what is happening in their communities."

Nehr said marijuana grow operations could lead to violence.

"I want to make sure it doesn't get to the point where people worry about where they live," said Nehr, a freshmen representative and who is also a former Tarpon Springs city commissioner.

In what he describes as a "pure coincidence," Nehr happens to be co-sponsoring a proposed bill put forth by Rep. Nick Thompson, R-Fort Myers, that addresses marijuana grow operations.

NowCurrently, a suspect can only be charged with distribution and sale only if the number of plants found is 100 or more plants are found, he said. The bill Nehr is co-sponsoring reduces the number of plants necessary for the charge to 25, he said.

He finds it more than simply interesting that he stumbled across something in real life that represents a problem he's trying to address in the Legislature.

"That was almost like fate," he said.

Reporter Stephen Thompson can be reached at (727) 451-2336 or spthompson@tampatrib.com.

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