SENTENCE SET ASIDE FOR CONVICTED DRUG TRAFFICKER

A Collier County judge who sentenced a 26-year-old Tampa man to 15
years in a state prison on marijuana trafficking charges on Tuesday
set aside the hefty term a day later and ordered a mandatory
presentence investigation.

Collier County Circuit Judge Frank Baker will hold a sentencing
hearing Aug. 15 for Neury Rivero Morera, who was sentenced Tuesday,
just minutes after a jury deliberated roughly 10 minutes and convicted
him of trafficking 25 to 20,000 pounds of marijuana and possessing
drug paraphernalia.

Baker issued an order setting aside his sentence Wednesday and ordered
a PSI, as required by law for defendants convicted at trial. The PSI
involves a review of a defendant's criminal history, aggravating and
mitigating factors, and results in a sentencing recommendation based
on a scoring system. But judges don't have to follow the
recommendation.

The Cuban-born Rivero, who was here legally and has no criminal
history, faced a maximum of 30 years, but Baker imposed half, ordered
him to serve the three-year mandatory minimum, day for day, and
imposed the mandatory $25,000 fine. He also sentenced him to 10 years
of probation after his release.

Rivero was arrested on March 29 after Collier County Sheriff's Office
Vice and Narcotics Bureau detectives found him inside a marijuana
growhouse at 490 14th St. N.E. in Golden Gate Estates that contained
202 plants, high powered lights, generators, transformers and an
elaborate fertilizing pump system. His keychain contained keys to the
home, which was never used for living, and the two rooms used to grow
pot. Deputies also found a common growhouse fertilizer in his car trunk.