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Nehr Says He Gave Tip On Marijuana House

Lawmaker seeks stiffer penalties

Pinellas Sheriff's Office

State Rep. Peter Nehr, R-Tarpon Springs, was the source of the tip that led Pinellas Sheriff’s Office vice-narcotics detectives to alleged marijuana grow house in the Palm Harbor area.

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SUNCOAST NEWS STAFF REPORT

Published: February 20, 2008

PALM HARBOR – A state lawmaker says he provided the tip that led the Pinellas Sheriff's Office to an indoor marijuana cultivation operation.

In announcing late Tuesday night he had alerted the Sheriff's Office to the alleged marijuana grow house at 85 South Canal Drive, Palm Harbor, state Rep. Peter Nehr, R-Tarpon Springs, made a pitch for a bill he has co-sponsored that would raise the criminal penalty for marijuana cultivation.

In an interview Wednesday morning, Sgt. Jim Bordner, a Sheriff's Office spokesman, said he would confirm "at Mr. Nehr's request" that the lawmaker had been the source of the tip.

Bordner said, however, the Sheriff's Office was reluctant to do so out of a concern the public would incorrectly come to believe the agency would reveal the identity of anyone who offered a tip on a criminal matter and wished to remain anonymous. The Sheriff's Office does not do that, Bordner stressed.

Speaking by phone from Tallahassee this morning, Nehr said he noticed the house on South Canal Drive while walking a friend's dog last month.

When he approached the house he saw its windows were blocked, an air-conditioner was on even though it was a cool day and the electrical meter box appeared to have been tampered with, Nehr said.

He also noticed an odor coming from the house, Nehr said.

Nehr said he called the Sheriff's Office to report what he had observed, as any good citizen would.

Timothy Edward Stacy was renting the house and growing the marijuana in two rooms he had converted for the purpose, Pinellas sheriff's detectives allege.

Detectives discovered 29 live marijuana plants, 131 marijuana root balls along with a large amount of harvested marijuana. Detectives say they seized more than 136 pounds of plants and harvested marijuana with a street value of more than $500,000 during the raid.

Detectives also seized three firearms, two crossbows and a large of equipment used to grow the marijuana.

The Sheriff's Office said Tuesday a tip had sparked a three-week investigation that led to Stacy's arrest. Stacy was taken into custody on one count each of cultivation of marijuana and trafficking in marijuana.

The bill Nehr is co-sponsoring with state Rep. Nick Thompson, R-Fort Myers, would among others things, make "possession of specified number or more of cannabis plants ... prima facie evidence of intent to sell or distribute" marijuana.

The legislation would also allow law enforcement to photograph or video record marijuana cultivation equipment, allow those recordings to be used as evidence in court and permit the destruction of the equipment.

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