BREWERY GROW-OP 'FARMERS' SENTENCED

BARRIE -- Seven men -- one from near Sarnia -- described as the
farmers who ran a marijuana factory in an old brewery have been dealt
sentences ranging from house arrest to prison. The police bust of the
illegal grow operation was the largest in Canadian history.

In the end, it yielded thousands of plants and many leads -- but few
convictions.

Police said the seven men who pleaded guilty are minor players. Unless
new evidence surfaces, they'll likely be the only ones to serve time.

The growing operation in the former Molson plant, near a busy highway,
included living quarters for 27 workers, with kitchen, laundry and
games rooms. More than 20 of the brewery's giant beer vats had been
turned into hothouses for more than 20,000 plants, complete with
high-tech irrigation and lighting systems.

In court Friday, noting the seven men were "not the controlling minds"
behind the operation, Justice James Crawford said the sentences sent
"the appropriate message to deter someone of similar mind from"
getting involved in large-scale pot production.

Thomas Gates, 33, of Corunna, near Sarnia, was given four years in
prison, as was Rayne Sauve, 36, of St. Catharines.

Scott Dillon, 24, of Toronto, got two years less a day; Craig Walker,
24, of Niagara Falls, three years, six months in prison; Robert
Bleich, 29, of Stayner, and Scott Walker, 34, St. Catharines, five
years each.

Michael DiCicco, 61, of Toronto, who lived on the site and set up a
dummy company as a front for the grow operation, got only two years of
house arrest because of his severe health problems, Crawford said.

After the raid, police said only a well-financed criminal organization
could have supported and overseen such an operation. They were
confident more charges would be laid. They spent months gathering
evidence and dismantling equipment found in the massive facility.

Police say they know who the individuals are who may have raked in as
much as $120 million during the factory's two-year operation, but
can't charge them.

"We know who's behind it," Ontario Provincial Police Det. Supt. Jim
Miller, director of the force's drug enforcement unit, said recently.
"But we've got to have evidence to prove it in court and we just don't
have it."

In hindsight, police admit they could have taken a different approach
to the investigation.

"I would have loved to have been able to step back and watch the
comings and goings for six months," said OPP Det. Sgt. Rick Barnum
after the sentencing. Police say that at the time, they had no choice
but to bust the operation.

Barnum said the operation was so well concealed it took police nearly
an hour to find it once inside the site.