FEW GROW HOUSE SUSPECTS IN LEHIGH ACRES CONVICTED

Only 9 Out of 46 Cases Prosecuted

Getting caught inside or near a marijuana grow house in Lehigh Acres
doesn't necessarily lead to a long stay behind bars.

Nine of 46 people arrested in or near marijuana grow houses during a
six-month period ending March 31 have been convicted, but 22 others
escaped prosecution by the state attorney's office, according to a
review of the cases. Fifteen cases remain pending.

The most severe sentence handed out so far is 46 months in prison
plus fines and court costs totaling $26,786. That penalty was ordered
for Diosledy Lezcano-Veliz, 23, who was brought up on trafficking and
cultivation charges and claimed sole responsibility for 52 plants
found at a house on Hatfield Street. Three others were arrested in
the case. Two of them were not prosecuted and the third still faces
charges stemming from that case.

Sheriff Mike Scott said it's the revolving door of justice. It's
frustrating but not unexpected.

It's difficult to prove someone's involvement even though they might
be found in a grow house, said Samantha Syoen, spokeswoman for the
state attorney's office.

Being able to prove someone is involved is one factor, but law
enforcement often intimidates people into letting them into the house
and that exposes a case to unlawful entry attacks, said attorney Rene
Suarez, who has represented nine of the 46 people.

"That's a distortion. That sounds like something a defense attorney
would say," said Lee County Sheriff's Capt. Dominick Ferrante of the
narcotics unit.

Ferrante compared the approach used in many cases to a consensual
conversation on the doorstep. Agents leave if people do not let them
enter, he said. But it doesn't mean the investigation is over.

Most people who have avoided prosecution got off the hook when
someone else claims sole responsibility for the crop in the house
where they were arrested, according to a review of the cases provided
by the State Attorney's Office. Lee County Clerk of Courts records
also were used to update cases.

Six people managed to escape prosecution because of problems with law
enforcement's entry into two grow houses, according to the State
Attorney's Office.

The pending cases involve the common charges of cultivating,
trafficking and possession of drug paraphernalia. But they also
include three people charged with attempted murder or murder.

Carlos Ulloa, who also was arrested at the Hatfield Street grow
house, faces two counts of attempted murder. Deputies were shot at
when they arrived at the house.

In another case, Jose Ernesto Santana faces two second-degree murder
charges and Yoel Priedes Quintana and Luis Valdes Canga face a
third-degree murder charge. The charges are related to an attempted
robbery of a grow house at 3401 19th St. Southwest. Two men died and
90 plants were seized.

"Every case is different," Syoen said. No one factor leads to
dismissal of charges or a decision not to charge someone, she said.

In many cases deputies were admitted to the homes after they knocked
on the door, told the person who answered why they were there and
asked for permission to enter. Deputies then arrested the people in
the house or using the same address.

But making the charges stick gets difficult when one person claims
responsibility for the crop, according to Syoen.

"We have to prove knowledge and the ability to exercise control over
the contraband," Syoen said. Prosecutors can't assume that a person
has the knowledge and control, she noted.

"The state has to prove every element of the crime. It makes it very
difficult for the state," Suarez said.

The burden of proof gets heavier, he said, if other people in the
house are not named on electric bills, or do not keep clothing and
belongings at the house, Suarez said.

"Typically 95 percent of the home is in marijuana plants. How could
someone not know what was going on?" Ferrante asked.

Common sense suggests they are involved, Ferrante said.

People who are in grow houses are there to grow marijuana, Ferrante said.

It's possible someone could be a visitor and that is taken into
consideration when arrests are made, he said.

The weakness in some cases is how law enforcement carries out the
"knock and talk" entry, Suarez said. They ask for permission to
enter, but the permission has to be given voluntarily and the person
has to have the reasonable ability to say no, Suarez said.

But it's intimidating when they see 10 or 15 armed deputies waiting
to enter and they might assume the lawmen are going to come in
anyway, Suarez said. Defense attorneys like himself would have a
harder time if lawmen took more time to gather information for a
warrant to enter, Suarez said.

The kind of information that leads the sheriff's office to knock on
the door can produce a show of force, Ferrante said.

But typically just two detectives are present, Ferrante said.

One Lehigh resident believes the prosecution record is outrageous.

"They should all be in jail if they're doing it," said resident Buzzy Ford, 35.

He doesn't buy official explanations of what is going on, he said.

The public has to decide if having about 50 percent of the cases go
unprosecuted is acceptable, Ferrante said.