STEVENSVILLE MARIJUANA GROWERS FACING FELONY CHARGES

The Ravalli County Attorney's Office is pressing charges against the
owners of a Stevensville marijuana operation that was raided in July.

Deputy County Attorney Ryan Weldon has filed four felony charges
against the partners who ran Banana Belt Caregivers just east of the
Stevensville Wye. The partners are being summoned to justice court to
answer the charges on Jan. 13.

Thomas Fenton Patterson, Kelly Robin Goosey, Tony Stuart Smith and
Edward Leonard Smartt are all charged with drug production,
distribution, possession with intent to distribute, and possession of
property subject to forfeiture based upon evidence seized in a July 20
raid conducted by Ravalli County sheriff's deputies.

According to Weldon's filing, a man reported on July 16 that people
were growing marijuana on his rental property in Florence. A few days
later, deputies confirmed that the renter, Darrell Riley, had no
marijuana user or provider card so they got a warrant to search the
property.

When deputies arrived at the property, the plants were gone. Riley,
50, told them the plants belonged to Smartt, who had taken them away.

Deputies located Smartt, who admitted the plants were his, because he
was a grower for Banana Belt Caregivers. Smartt told them he had no
plants at the facility at the time.

Smartt said Patterson, Goosey and Smith were growing plants there
because Banana Belt was claiming to be a "provider" under the state of
Montana's new marijuana law. Patterson had a provider card for 99
patients under the old law.

On July 1, the revamped law went into effect, reducing the amount of
marijuana people could possess and severely curtailing providers.
However, on June 30, District Judge James Reynolds blocked some of the
restrictions included in the law and the final ruling is still working
its way to the state Supreme Court. That caused some confusion on both
sides of the law.

More recently, Missoula business owner Jason Christ filed a Dec. 14
lawsuit claiming the new marijuana law is unconstitutional.

On July 20, Goosey called the sheriff's office to say he was shutting
down the business, concerned that it was in violation of the new law.
Under the new law, all providers were supposed to turn in their excess
plants, but Goosey said the partners had not.

Goosey said the partners had submitted the required forms in Helena on
July 1 so they thought they could proceed with keeping four plants per
patient, resulting in 396 plants.

But Rachel Donahoe of the Department of Health and Human Services told
deputies that no new cards had been issued since the law went into
effect.

Deputies got a warrant, which resulted in the July 20 raid, where
deputies found 195 live plants, far more than that allowed by law.

Several weeks later, a detective recorded Patterson selling marijuana
and claiming to represent Banana Belt.

Goosey said Smartt helped with Banana Belt Caregivers but was not an
employee. So Smartt is charged with an additional five felonies in a
related incident, including distribution, possession and production of
drugs, for raising the plants that were found in Florence by Riley's'
landlord on July 16.

On July 25, deputies searched Smartt's residence and found eight live
marijuana plants and 2.6 ounces of dried marijuana.

Deputies spoke to Smartt's mother, who said Riley had been hired to
mow her lawn and saw Smartt with some marijuana plants. She said Riley
volunteered to raise some marijuana because his ex-wife had multiple
sclerosis and a California medical marijuana card.

Smartt told deputies the eight marijuana plants they found in his yard
were the ones he took from Riley's property.

Riley was charged with felony drug production on July 20. His trial
date is set for March 19.