Arrested for growing in FL. What can I expect?

Please, if anyone has had similar charges in FL, let me know what happened. I pray for probation with no jail time, but we'll see.

I have a completely clean record.

But I got busted on 3 felony charges.

Cultivation of 49 plants (I only had 9, but the police counted all of my dead plants that were in a trash bin that I never emptied!)

Possession >20 grams (It was slightly over a pound)

Intent to sell.


For those curious as to how I got busted. I slipped with a knife, blood was spraying everywhere and I was blacking out. The GF freaked out and called 911. They saw the lights coming from a bedroom.

My bond was set at $15,000. They reduced it to $5,000 and I bonded out.

I own a home, and a legit business. If I do time I'm going to lose both of those things I've worked so hard for.

What was the paramedics doing in you grow room? From what I know, your going to be doing at least 1 year.

I dont think I can be of much help, but I would contact your local norml chapter and ask for assistance.

Was the smell in your house strong? if all they saw was the light than I dont believe they had probable cause to search your house. Just because they were called for an injury does not give them the right to search your home. They were responding to a non-criminal complaint and turned it into a bust, that is BS and I would get a good lawyer and possibly see if you can sue for wrongful search and seizure, or something like that.

Three felonies in a state with private prisons? Hope it turns out well for you.

yeah if your record is clean and you show up to court with a lawyer, then you will most likely get probation. If you have a lawyer than they will probably try and get you to plea out for probation. But a lawyer might get it thrown out before it gets that far for an illegal search. I had a friend in Tampa that sold to an undercover. Two detectives showed up at is front door and when he opened the door they said that they smelled marijuana. They then came into his house and found several pounds. He beat that charge because they did not have a warrant. Just get a good lawyer and you will be ok.

This is why dating and girlfriends can be major stumbling blocks for growers, I myself used to live in Georgia and grow and I usually couldn't keep a girlfriend for long because I refused to bring one to my house because I did not trust anyone knowing about my grow.


It affected my life in a lot of ways, I never had any company because I never would let anyone in my house. I had A LOT to lose too, 30 acres of land and a huge double wide trailer. I planned on moving to Colorado and getting MMJ registered after I sold my place.

I moved last Summer to Colorado, got MMJ registered and all is well now, I don't brag about my grow, but I'm not paranoid about having company in my house because I know that if Law Enforcement came in, they couldn't do shit to me.

I don't have any advice on what to do now that your in a sling, I always said that if I ever got busted when I lived in Georgia that I would make bail somehow, liquidate everything I could, get a bus ticket under another name and flee up to Alaska , getting a job as a deck hand on a crab fishing boat, most of those guys make tax free money because its made in international waters and can make like 20-30 grand in an 8 week season at sea.

That's an extreme scenario , but I've never been the type to face the music, I hate the judicial system with a passion and would never give them the satisfaction of punishing me easy.

I was always afraid of losing my property if I got busted , I would always meet the UPS man in my front yard for deliveries so he wouldn't walk up to my door and smell anything funky as I opened the door. Even though I still had a Can Fan inline fan and carbon filter in my closet...I still took extra precautions.

Being paranoid and extra cautious kept me from getting busted. I would get what I could out of my house, sell it for whatever traveling money I could get pack light, and haul ass, maybe go to Washington state.

That's just what I would do, I would rather run and hide out laying low for the rest of my life than face doing 18 months in a block solid room.

The real kick in the nuts is the girlfriend will most likely take up with another guy while your locked up, not feeling the least bit sorry, and she's the reason your in this mess.

Your story made me think of an Elvis song >

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tRipt8GJ9GQ&feature=related

I'm sure you want to talk about it but this is not the place for legal advise.

You need to hire a lawyer - if you are near Lauderdale I can find a good one for you.

It depends on what part of Fla you're talking about. If you're in a county that has zero tolerance, then you might have a bit on your hands. And there are a lot of crooked cops as well. But from what I know... if they had no probable cause to even suspect anything, they had no right to search your house. They must have real probable cause, not just seeing lights. Hell, your whole house has lights! Being you have a clean record, and have never had any drug charges, you shouldn't sweat too much. And another easy out I know a friend did, is say rehab! He did 28 days and all was good. But everyone is different. Even though you get in trouble go to jail etc, the next guys getting a slap on the wrist. Depends if the judge and state got laid the night before!!! lol. But just seek some "real" advise honey, and make sure you and your girl have the stories straight. Police will try to trip you 2 up with that "he said" "she said", and that is what can fuck you up. Good luck, and keep your head up!

TreeOfLiberty said:

This is why dating and girlfriends can be major stumbling blocks for growers, I myself used to live in Georgia and grow and I usually couldn't keep a girlfriend for long because I refused to bring one to my house because I did not trust anyone knowing about my grow.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tRipt8GJ9GQ&feature=related

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man i couldn't agree with this more. me and my gf love each other very much, but we still fight (probably because of our feelings), but man, every time we get in a screaming match, and i storm out of the room punching walls (i have a angry disposition, and i would NEVER harm her, so i harm myself and my house lol) i start freaking out. the last thing i need is the cops called on a domestic dispute, then they go roaming around my house looking for shit.

i hate to say it, but when an ambulance, police, fire truck, ANYTHING related to such, is called to your house, chances are they are going to poke around. kinda sucks but nowadays an accident is just another way to make sure that his particular neighbor is as clean on the inside as he appears on the outside.

knock that shit off or the cops will come one day. what you just described, screaming matches and punching walls is an extremely common reason for cops to show up, and in some states a domestic disturbance will give the clops special powers to enter without a warrant and shit.

KlosetKing said:

man i couldn't agree with this more. me and my gf love each other very much, but we still fight (probably because of our feelings), but man, every time we get in a screaming match, and i storm out of the room punching walls (i have a angry disposition, and i would NEVER harm her, so i harm myself and my house lol) i start freaking out. the last thing i need is the cops called on a domestic dispute, then they go roaming around my house looking for shit.

i hate to say it, but when an ambulance, police, fire truck, ANYTHING related to such, is called to your house, chances are they are going to poke around. kinda sucks but nowadays an accident is just another way to make sure that his particular neighbor is as clean on the inside as he appears on the outside.

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Damn man im sorry to hear about a fellow fla grower gettin busted, from what i know any more than 25 plants will get you a minimum mandatory sentence of 3 years. now with that being said i believe that they are only allowed to count "rooted" plants which would mean they couldnt use the dead plants (not 100 percent on this), also sounds like they didnt have probable cause to search unless they smelled it which they prob did since u had the bedroom door open, get a really good lawyer, if ur in tampa area i can help you out there, and did they read you your miranda rights? Theres always hope they forgot and u could get it tossed out, best of luck man and lmk if theres anything i can do to help

From what im reading, it seems like your gf that got you busted saved your life? blood spurting out and you were blacking out? and you wish she didnt call 911...what good are your crops if you are dead man....lol...

I REALLY hope you get off on probation though man! And keep the girl close now! She did o the right thing...imagine how you would feel if you thought she was bleeding out man..

EDIT: - You never said she did the wrong thing, others have...sorry about that!

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