POT GROWER GETS 3 YEARS

Trafficker Hit With Record Prison Term For Grow-Ops

A convicted drug trafficker has been handed a three-year penitentiary
term, the longest prison sentence handed down in an Essex County
courtroom for operating a marijuana grow house.

Sinh Kim Ho, 30, made no statement before sentencing and only looked
straight ahead as his penalty was meted out by Superior Court justice
Terry Patterson Friday on nine drug-related charges, including
possession of controlled substances for the purposes of trafficking
and theft of hydro electrical power.

Noting that Ho had been in charge of grow house operations at three
residences in the city and that police seized drugs with an estimated
street value of $2 million, Patterson said the crimes called for a
sentence that would satisfy the goals of deterrence and denunciation.

"The RCMP is expressly and strongly concerned about grow house
operations in residential settings and the involvement of organized
crime," said Patterson. "This obviously was a sophisticated,
wholesale operation and it clearly requires a penitentiary sentence."

Federal prosecutor Richard Pollock said Ho came to the Windsor area
from Toronto in 2004 and purchased four houses in the city. Three of
the properties, in the 900 block of Curry, the 2300 block of Mercer,
and the 4000 block of Maple Leaf Crescent, were renovated to be
"completely dedicated to the production of drugs."

In June, 2004, police were informed of suspicious activity and the
Windsor police drug squad placed Ho under surveillance. A search
warrant was executed at the home Ho shared with his wife at [address
redacted] on June 22, where officers seized sets of keys for the
other addresses.

At the Maple Leaf Crescent location police discovered a house that
showed no signs of human habitation but, instead, had been turned
into a hot-house drug factory. They seized 455 marijuana plants at
various stages of growth and 10 kilograms of marijuana with a total
street value of $709,000. They also found cultivation and growth
equipment including lights, fans, ventilation systems and plant nutrients.

They discovered that the electrical system had been bypassed to allow
for the theft of power. At least $5,000 worth of electricity had been
stolen, Pollock said.

At the Mercer address they found 361 plants, some approaching one
metre in height, and 35 kilograms of marijuana with an estimated
street value of $1 million. They also seized hydroponic growth and
cultivation equipment and evidence of bypassed electricity.

At the Curry residence, officers found 153 plants, some of them more
than two metres high, valued at $353,000, and evidence of electricity
theft, including receipts made out to fictitious customers. Pollock
noted information provided by neighbours of those addresses placed Ho
at those homes and in control of the properties.

Pollock told the court Ho had invested heavily in the operation and
his actions were "premeditated to profit from crime." He added that
the size and sophistication of the illegal enterprise showed it was
obviously for the purposes of moving large sales volumes, most likely
for export.

Defence lawyer Rob Dipietro said his client had pleaded guilty and it
was his first offence in citing mitigating circumstances.

Ho was one of seven people arrested that summer after police raided
11 houses and apartments and seized $5.5 million worth of marijuana.
Four women and three men, all related by blood or marriage, were
arrested. Ho's brother Trang Kien Ha, 34, has already been sentenced
to 18 months.

Charges against Ho's wife, Nhung Trang Nguyen, were dropped.