MAN PLEADS GUILTY TO STEALING POWER TO GROW POT

GUELPH -- A city man described by his lawyer as the "caretaker" for a large
indoor marijuana growing operation was sentenced yesterday to 10 months in
jail and a further 15 days for stealing electricity.

However Khac Tran, 31, will only serve the 15-day term because he was given
10 months credit for the time he has spent behind bars since his arrest
last fall.

He pleaded guilty in Guelph court yesterday to producing a controlled
substance and theft of electricity.

Federal prosecutor David Doney said police learned in mid-2001 that a
number of people were involved in a ring of indoor marijuana growing
operations in Guelph and Wellington County.

Last Oct. 16, the OPP was told by Centre Wellington Hydro that a hydro
bypass had been installed at a home on Black Street in Fergus.

The bypass supplies electricity for the growing operation without it
showing up on the home's meter.

Doney said thousands of dollars in hydro was stolen with the "reasonably
complicated and sophisticated" system.

On Oct. 24, a police search arrested Tran was arrested when he left the
house on Black Street. Police found $1,120 on him, as well as more than
$2,000 worth of marijuana in his car.

A search of the house revealed 210 plants close to harvest in two basement
growing rooms, as well as a third growing room upstairs which was not being
used.

Doney said the plants had an estimated value of $100,000 and there was
another $7,000 worth of marijuana seized from the kitchen. He estimated the
value of the growing equipment removed from the house at $45,000.

Tran was also seen in September leaving a Puslinch Township home later
found to contain a dismantled growing operation, Doney said.

Tran faced charges connected with that site, but they were withdrawn yesterday.

Defence counsel John Kieffer said his client is a small player in a much
larger scheme and suggested Doney would have had trouble proving elements
of his case had Tran not pleaded guilty.

Tran is a landed immigrant, having arrived from Vietnam approximately one
year ago.

Justice Norman Douglas said while Canada welcomes those from other
countries, when they get involved in criminal activity nobody has sympathy
"including the local Vietnamese community."

In such cases a clear message must be sent by the courts "lest our country
become a mockery internationally and attract even more criminals," Douglas
said.

In addition to the jail time imposed, Tran will also be on probation for a year.