Fatcow Icon
Complaint leads deputies to $30,000 in marijuana
by Cris Ritchie
Editor
Perry County Deputy Elmer Fugate sorted through 32 marijuana plants seized on Thursday. (photo by Cris Ritchie)
Perry County Deputy Elmer Fugate sorted through 32 marijuana plants seized on Thursday. (photo by Cris Ritchie)
slideshow
Deputies located the plants on the Right Fork of Maces Creek. Pictured from left to right: Deputy Kevin Day, Deputy Joe Duff, Deputy Elmer Fugate and Sheriff Les Burgett. (photo courtesy of Perry County Sheriff's Office)
Deputies located the plants on the Right Fork of Maces Creek. Pictured from left to right: Deputy Kevin Day, Deputy Joe Duff, Deputy Elmer Fugate and Sheriff Les Burgett. (photo courtesy of Perry County Sheriff's Office)
slideshow

HAZARD – Deputies with the Perry County Sheriff’s Office seized more than 30 marijuana plants on Thursday with an estimated street value of more than $30,000.

The sheriff’s office received a complaint about the plants by members of a contracting crew working at the head of Big Wooton Fork on the Right Fork of Maces Creek after they encountered people “acting suspicious” on a haul road, blocking the path with ATVs, said Chief Deputy Tony Eversole.

“They (the contractors) had made the ATVs move and contacted us because they were acting suspicious,” Eversole said, adding that one of the employees apparently saw the plants before calling the sheriff’s office. “We went up there and located 32 marijuana plants.”

Deputy Elmer Fugate said the plants ranged in height from three to six and a half feet tall, and were mature enough that they were likely only a few weeks away from being harvested.

The patch had been well-tended, as deputies also located fertilizer and some of the plants were being propped up with sticks, said Eversole, adding that it should now be too late in the year for whoever had been tending the plants to attempt to grow more.

The state values a mature, producing marijuana plant at $1,000 each, making the sheriff’s haul on Thursday valued at a total of $32,000.

No arrested have been made, and Eversole noted that there were no identifying markers or paths leading to nearby houses.

Thursday’s seizure made the second for deputies this week. They also seized four marijuana plants on Wednesday while responding to a welfare complaint in the county. Eversole noted the homeowners were cited and released in that case.

Comments
(1)
Comments-icon Post a Comment
SarahB82
|
July 19, 2012
Doesn't the Perry County Sheriff's Office have something better to do with tax payers' money than bust someone for having pot plants? Anyone who even thinks smoking marijuana is worse than a lot of legal substances is crazy. End the war on marijuana, make it legal to grow (the economy of Eastern Kentucky would drastically improve), and spend money on arresting and controlling real criminals.
Black Gold Festival Recap
1GTB_DSC_0653.JPG
view slideshow (22 images)


News
<p>photo by Cris Ritchie | Hazard Herald</p><p>Then Interim Superintendent Jonathan Jett (at left) conversed with board members James Ritchie and Charlene Miller during the school board's October 2012 meeting.</p>
Board picks Jett as county schools’ superintendent
Signs four-year contract
May 25, 2013 | 0 0 comments | 2 2 recommendations | email to a friend
full story
<p>photo by Bailey Richards | Herald file</p><p>Reenactors participated in the Battle of Leatherwood in Perry County in 2012.</p>
Battle of Leatherwood site receives land donation
The Battle of Leatherwood reenactment site in Cornettsville has received another donation of land from the original donor of the battle site — a donation that adds nearly six acres of land. Mari...
May 25, 2013 | 0 0 comments | 2 2 recommendations | email to a friend
full story
Read More News
Sports
Hazard_wins_middle_school_title0_1369409994.jpg
Hazard wins middle school title
Hazard Middle School’s baseball team was recently crowned the 2013 Southeast Conference middle school champions. Pictured from left to right in the back row: Coach Mark Collins, Connor Whitaker, C...
May 24, 2013 | 0 0 comments | 2 2 recommendations | email to a friend
full story
Hazard freshman Griffin Wells picked up the win Wednesday evening as the Bulldogs shut out Perry Central in six innings. (photo by Cris Ritchie | Hazard Herald)
Hazard pitches shutout for third straight district title
The Hazard Bulldogs won their third consecutive 54th District championship on Wednesday, defeating Perry Central 10-0 in six innings. Hazard picked up a run in the first inning after a lead-off ...
May 23, 2013 | 0 0 comments | 3 3 recommendations | email to a friend
full story
Read More Sports
Opinion
The parched truth about American jobs
At last, some excellent economic news for folks long-mired in the stagnant labor market. “Jobs Spring Back,” exclaimed a typical headline on recent reports that 165,000 private-sector jobs were added in April. Wow — the thunderous, three-year boom of prosperity that has rained riches on Wall S...
May 22, 2013 | 0 0 comments | 2 2 recommendations | email to a friend
full story
A plan for more hope in Eastern Kentucky
“The leadership problem is that an increasing number of people in the world are miserable, hopeless, suffering and becoming dangerously unhappy because they don’t have an almighty good job – and in most cases, no hope of getting one.” Jim Clifton, The Coming Jobs Wars (2011) and CEO for Gallup ...
May 22, 2013 | 0 0 comments | 3 3 recommendations | email to a friend
full story
Read More Opinion
Latest Video
Weather
Sponsored By:

RSS Feeds
All articles feed
News feed
Sports feed
Videos feed
Obituaries feed
Opinion feed
Local Features
Photo by Amelia Holliday | Hazard Herald
Big Blue Smokehouse cuts ribbon at Hazard location
The Big Blue Smokehouse, a barbecue restaurant owned by Estill Neace and Doug Campbell, held a ribbon cutting ceremony for their Hazard location on Friday. Neace said it has been one year since he...
May 24, 2013 | 0 0 comments | 2 2 recommendations | email to a friend
full story
<p>photo by Cris Ritchie | Hazard Herald</p><p>Members of the local Boys Scouts troop received a $500 mini-grant from the Youth Leadership and Philanthropy Initiative of Perry County.</p>
Youth philanthropy group awards first grant
HAZARD – A local youth-oriented philanthropy group this week awarded its very first grant. Members of the Youth Leadership and Philanthropy Initiative (YLPI) of Perry County presented the $500 m...
May 24, 2013 | 0 0 comments | 2 2 recommendations | email to a friend
full story
Read More Local Features
Poll
Sponsored By:

Internet poll
May 24, 2013 | 28115 views | 0 0 comments | 2 2 recommendations | email to a friend | print

Perry County was recently ranked 119th out of 120 in terms of overall health of its citizens. What can be done to help improve that ranking?

View Previous Polls
Special Sections
Graduation 2013 - May 22, 2013
2013 Living 50 Plus
2013 Reader's Choice
2013 Reader's Choice