CLINTON BUSINESS RAIDED, MAN CHARGED WITH GROWING 297 MARIJUANA PLANTS

ADRIAN, Mich. - A police raid on a marijuana-growing operation inside
an antique store near Clinton landed a 62-year-old Onsted-area man in
court Tuesday for arraignment on felony charges.

Barry Lee Fisher faces charges of marijuana manufacturing, conspiracy
and maintaining a drug house that carry up to a 15-year prison term.
He is lodged at the Lenawee County Jail after failing to post a
$300,000 bond.

A sophisticated growing operation was found on the second floor of the
Oak City Antiques store, 2751 U.S. 12, when Lenawee County's OMNI drug
enforcement team searched the building on Feb. 17, said team leader
Michigan State Police Lt. Steve Galbreath.

The antique store appeared to have been closed and the building turned
into something else, he said.

"It looked like the business was being converted into a large grow
room," Galbreath said.

Officers seized 297 plants in various stages of growth as well as 30
pounds of processed marijuana that had been packaged in one-pound bags.

Fisher and another man who is a suspect in the case both had medical
marijuana cards Galbreath said. But the operation was too large to be
covered under Michigan's medical marijuana law, he said.

"They were over the limit," he said. "It was strictly for
profit."

Fisher's defense could involve the state's medical marijuana laws,
said Adrian attorney John Baker who filed an appearance to represent
him.

"It's certainly a possibility," Baker said. He said he could not
comment further until he has a chance to see police reports and learn
the details of the case.

Galbreath said Michigan law allows certified medical marijuana users
to grow up to 12 plants. If certified as a caregiver, a patient could
grow marijuana for as many as five other certified users, making it
possible to legally grow as many as 72 plants at a time.

Fisher came under surveillance because of tips the OMNI team received
and the fact Fisher was prosecuted two years ago in Washtenaw County
for a large outdoor marijuana growing operation, Galbreath said.
Fisher pleaded guilty to manufacturing more than 200 plants and was
sentenced to two years probation on March 18 last year in Washtenaw
County.

When officers executed a search warrant last week, said Galbreath,
there was an active growing operation on second floor of the Oak City
Antiques building, and it appeared the ground floor was in the process
of being converted. There were three rooms in use upstairs, he said.
Plants were being started in a hydroponic facility. Starter plants
were then placed in soil and moved to a second room. And larger plants
were found in a third room where they were grown to maturity, he said.

Fisher is scheduled for a preliminary hearing on March 7 in Lenawee
County District Court.