Florida Criminal Attorneys Blog

Police responded to the scene of a reported home invasion. Residents contacted the officers and claimed that three to five pounds of pot had been stolen from a home located at 11480 Manassas Avenue in Hernando County. Police uncovered an additional 59 pot plants, irrigation equipment, ventilation equipment and additional contraband used for cultivating marijuana.

Five people were arrested in connection with the marijuana grow house. Three out of the five suspects admitted to knowing about the marijuana. At least one individual claimed she did not know the origin of the plants. The defendants, 40-year old Wilson Rodriguez, 25-year old Edilberto Serrano, 35-year old Javier Verde, 34-year old Jarol Herrera and 25-year old Batista Yunet, have all been charged with felony marijuana cultivation. The defendants have not posted the $5,000 bail and are currently awaiting trial inside the Hernando County Jail.

Two Cape Coral suspects, 20-year old Nicholas Stone and 19-year old Jami Wheeler, have been taken into custody on felony drug charges. Stone faces four counts of selling cocaine, including selling cocaine within 1000 feet of a church and another for selling within 1000 feet of a school. Both suspects face felony charges of trafficking cocaine, possession of Roxicodone and possession of Xanax.

The arrests came after a month long undercover sting operation. Stone allegedly sold drugs to undercover officers on four occasions. The authorities later obtained a search warrant for the pair's residence and found thirty pills and 36 grams of cocaine. The Cape Coral Police also recovered a digital scale and baggies used to measure and separate the drugs for distribution. Both suspects were taken into custody at the Lee County Jail.