Some claiming to be a concerned citizen made a call to authorities indicating they were concerned about the health and welfare of a child living in an Ohio house. When authorities were dispatched to check on the situation, five people ended up being arrested on drug charges for cultivating marijuana. It is unclear what information was given to police that enabled them to obtain a search warrant that was executed by the Portage County Drug Task Force.
Officers with the task force claim to have found somewhere in the neighborhood of 95 marijuana plants in the house. They also found other substances believed to be illegal narcotics found in the home. Those substances are currently being analyzed by the Ohio Bureau of Investigation Crime Lab.
The plants were allegedly found in the basement and a bedroom that was next door to a nine-month-old child. No information was given on which of the five people found in the home was the parent or parents of the child. It may take some time to determine what exactly went on in that Ohio home.
Charging five people with the same drug charges makes the assumption that all five were equally involved in the crimes. In the coming weeks and months, each party will determine how best to proceed to with his or her own defense. There may be one or two of the parties that were arrested who could provide useful information regarding what was going on in the home. When there are multiple people charged in the same incident, prosecutors may offer plea bargains in exchange for incriminating evidence against the others. This is one of the reasons why it is important for each person to build his or her own defense.
Source: cleveland.com, “Drug task force arrests 5 in marijuana grow operation,” Michael Sangiacomo, Aug. 1, 2013