GROW-OPS WORTH $200,000 A YEAR, OFFICER TESTIFIES

One of three major grow sites run by the founder of the Nova Scotia
Marijuana party could have yielded $200,000 a year in profits had
police not busted the operation, a former RCMP officer testified Monday.

Marc Gorbet, an expert in the valuation, propagation, cultivation and
distribution of marijuana, said the 170 plants seized from a South
Rawdon home seven years ago likely would have brought in between
$5,500 and $7,700 a kilogram.

"That's the potential for a grow like this," Mr. Gorbet told Nova
Scotia Supreme Court Justice Felix Cacchione after guiding him
through a videotape of the sophisticated setup.

Throughout the testimony, Melanie Jane Stephen-Patriquen, who is on
trial for money laundering and possessing proceeds of crime from the
grow-op, sat quietly, at times letting out an audible sigh.

At the time of the bust on Feb. 28, 2000, Ms. Stephen-Patriquen was
married to Michael Patriquen, who founded the Nova Scotia Marijuana
Party. The couple and their two young children lived in Lower Sackville.

Mr. Patriquen was found to be the boss of the massive setup, which
included grow-op residences in the Hants County communites of south
and central Rawdon and Noel.

Mr. Patriquen was also accused of money laundering and possessing
proceeds of crime from trafficking between 1995 and 2000. He pleaded
guilty to the possession charge and was sentenced in January 2005 to
three years to be served concurrently with a six-year sentence he
received in September 2002 for conspiracy and drug trafficking. He
was also fined$259,427.