GRASS GROWERS PLEAD GUILTY

Five men who pleaded guilty yesterday in connection with the giant
marijuana grow operation that operated out of the former Molson
brewery face the stiffest sentences ever handed out in Canada for a
crime of this nature.

Joint submissions by lawyers suggested four-to five-year prison terms
for production and possession of marijuana for the purpose of
trafficking. The average sentence is usually less than two years,
often with only a house arrest imposed.

Justice James Crawford reserved his decision until Friday, but, upon
accepting each plea as seven men stood before him in a Barrie
courtroom, he handed them a warning.

"There is expert evidence that shows the marijuana in this operation
could have been exported into the United States -- this court is bound
to consider this and I am bound to impose a proper sentence."

Federal Crown Karen Jokinen told the judge he must hit hard with his
sentence because grow operations pose a huge risk to society.

"These individuals were facilitating the biggest, most sophisticated,
most secretive grow operation in Canadian history," she said, noting
hidden doors and secret walls made it difficult for police to find the
jungle-like marijuana plant operating inside the former beer plant.
The operation reaped at least $60-million a year from the U.S. and the
pot was often exchanged for cocaine and weapons for Canada.

"They couldn't have been so stupid as to not know that."

But defence lawyer Randall Barrs suggested the fuss about grow
operations is nothing but a joke, to be compared to the fuss about
alcohol during the years of Prohibition.

"It is the criminalization of marijuana that has caused a criminal
element and organized crime -- just like Prohibition," he said, noting
alcohol and cigarettes cause far more damage to society.

"There is a huge demand for marijuana that is not going to go away,"
he said.

"If we stop it in Canada, it's not going to fall out of heaven like
manna. It will have to come from South America, which is far worse."

Lawyers agreed that the superintendent of the operation, Michael
DiCicco, who was nicknamed "Chief" by co-workers, should not go to
jail because he is sick.

Barrs said police failed to give DiCicco his medication, which
resulted in a heart attack and a quadruple bypass.

One other accused will not likely get jail time because he is too
young, lawyers said.

"He (DiCicco) had the heart attack in all probability because he was
deprived of his medication while he was incarcerated," said Barrs.

Court heard police arrested the men as they were in vehicles leaving
the former Molson plant in the middle of the night on Jan. 9 of last
year.

Police found keys that matched locks on deadbolted doors that led the
way into the inside of the brewery, where a giant grow operation was
thriving.

Matching fingerprints were also found in the hidden living quarters
where workers lived during harvests -- likely without freedom to
leave. And fingerprints were found on work and pay schedules with
short notations to pay persons who went by nicknames such as "Tiny,"
"Big J," "Wiggles," "Kid," "Chubs" and "Ears."

One witness came forward after noticing a photograph of Robert Bleich
extending his finger in the newspaper.

The witness told who told police he regularly purchased U-Hauls full
of soil and growing products and paid cash in $100 bills from a
Brampton business called Plant Products.