SMALL HOBBY BLOSSOMED INTO MAJOR POT-GROWING OPERATION

From the outside, there was nothing to distinguish the houses rented
by Brad DeGraff and his buddies from the suburban mosaic of North County.

Inside was another matter.

Hanging lights shone day and night, air conditioner fans hummed and
pumps whirred as water and nutrients moved to thriving pot plants that
grew larger each day.

The hot, humid air hung heavy with the smell of marijuana.

Authorities say this suburban-grown pot, three to four times more
powerful than the marijuana of 20 to 30 years ago, sold for more than
$4,000 a pound - about two-thirds the price, by weight, of gold.

DeGraff, 26, was sentenced last week to four years, three months in
federal prison. More heavily involved in the growing operation than
anyone else, he helped run eight of the nearly two-dozen growing
operations busted a year ago.

"This is a criminal enterprise with Mr. DeGraff as CEO and CFO,"
prosecutor Sherri Hobson said. "He was 20 years old when he started."

A friend, Adam Muscat, helped run nearly as many homes and is
scheduled to be sentenced next month, she said.

In an interview, Gene Iredale, DeGraff's lawyer, said the ring was not
a traditional criminal organization.

"It's important that they not turn everyone into little mafiosi," he
said. "These are high school guys who got carried away in their
horticultural endeavors."

But this was far from an overgrown garden club, said Jack Hook, acting
special agent in charge of the San Diego office of the Drug
Enforcement Administration.

"They were totally into it for the money," he said.

The ring represented just over a third of the 71 indoor
marijuana-growing operations the DEA busted in the county last year,
Hook said, noting that such busts are on the upswing as growers become
more sophisticated and inventive at hiding their activities.

Federal drug cops bust many more outdoor grows, which often can be
seen from the air. But the indoor grows are a priority because of the
potency of the marijuana they produce and the amount of money
involved, he said.

The drug isn't just grown in the suburbs; it's smoked there as well,
Hook said. Some of the marijuana the ring produced found its way into
younger and younger hands.

"It's gone down to junior high and even 5th-and 6th-grade elementary
school level," he said.

DeGraff said he never sold marijuana to minors.

Most of the 24 people arrested - all of whom have pleaded guilty - met
each other while attending high school in Poway and Rancho Bernardo.

"We're all good kids," said a longtime DeGraff friend who steered
clear of the legal trouble. "All the kids involved in this case were
not typical criminals. . . . It's something that just kind of happened."

An interest in botany The marijuana operation was a cooperative
process.

DeGraff and Muscat shared the labor, profits, and risks with
partners.

The first partners, DeGraff said, were people they met while at Poway
High, when he started smoking and growing marijuana.

Back in school, it appeared everyone was smoking pot, he said, so even
though he knew it was illegal, it didn't seem so bad.

And DeGraff and his friends passed along some of their small
harvests.

"The whole group of people I was involved with were distributing," he
said in an interview before entering prison.

After high school, DeGraff moved to Riverside to work for an elevator
company and started growing marijuana in a closet to ensure a steady
supply for himself.

He returned to San Diego to spend more time with friends and promote
dances, and one day he picked up a copy of High Times - a marijuana
magazine full of advice on growing pot and ads for equipment - at a
convenience store.

"I was . . . interested in botany and along with my fascination for
the marijuana plant, I soon found myself with my own grow," he said in
a court filing.

In a La Mesa house he shared with roommates, he devoted a room to the
illicit crop and sold his harvest.

The money was good, and he went into business with his friends.

"If you set up a bigger grow, you make more profit," he said in the
interview.

Prosecutors said in court papers DeGraff grew marijuana in his
grandmother's house, which DeGraff denies.

As the years passed, his friends went into business with their
friends.

Millions in profits? When federal agents came knocking March 19, the
group was growing marijuana in houses in Oceanside, Escondido,
Encinitas, Poway, Chula Vista, and the San Diego neighborhoods of
Rancho Penasquitos, Mira Mesa, Mission Valley and Grantville.

The DEA estimated gross proceeds from each house at $180,000 a
year.

All told, the enterprise brought in millions of dollars, said Hobson,
noting DeGraff forfeited $250,000 after pleading guilty to conspiracy
to grow marijuana and launder money and also admitted spending another
$250,000 in rent and electricity bills.

Authorities said DeGraff drove a Lexus sedan to which he made $11,000
in modifications, including new tires, rims and a stereo system.

But DeGraff bristled at the estimates of how much the operation
brought in.

"The money I made wasn't nearly what the government says I did," he
said.

Iredale said DeGraff turned over all the money he had made from the
illicit drug sales.

"He did everything he could to make it right," he said.

Large indoor marijuana growers like the ones busted in this ring can
be very sophisticated, Hook said.

Depending on their financial situation, they like to rent from
landlords who don't do background checks or from management companies
that rarely check on the property.

They like to pay the rent far in advance to reduce the possibility
someone will come by.

Once in a home, they prefer large master suites because of access to a
water source. They cover the windows with black tarps to block light
at night and line the inside with shiny Mylar sheeting to reflect heat
back into the room, he said.

Some will go so far as to build window boxes to make the rooms look
occupied from the outside.

Inside, they'll hang lights from the ceiling, bring in growing beds
and irrigation systems, and control the carbon-dioxide levels of the
room to ensure healthy growth, he said.

They'll also try to vent excess heat with fans and air conditioning.

The humidity and the heat can cause problems in the house, Hook said,
including mold and mildew.

DeGraff said he and his partners fixed any problems they caused,
painting walls and fixing holes, before turning a home back after renting it.

"They were brand new again," he said. "It didn't really do permanent
damage to the houses."

According to court records, this investigation began with a tip from a
neighbor. But agents also used sophisticated methods, looking at
electricity usage, photographing the houses with heat-sensitive
cameras, and tracking the purchase of money orders to make their case.

No slap on the wrist They also installed a hidden tracking device on
DeGraff's car and followed him for months as he went to the houses he
was working every day or every other day to tend to the plants.

When they were arrested, a lot of the members of the ring thought
they'd get a slap in the wrist. Only one defendant sentenced so far
has gotten probation. The others have been sentenced to prison for up
to five years.

"It didn't cross my mind that I would get caught because almost every
person I was associated with was involved," DeGraff said.

He was surprised by the penalty he faced.

Before sentencing him last week, U.S. District Judge Larry Burns told
DeGraff he could have chosen a different path in life.

"You really had a lot going for you here," the judge said.

A few days earlier, DeGraff lamented his choices.

"I could have put my mind to it, done a legitimate business, and been
just as successful," he said.