Deputies 'Stole' 91 Pot Plants, Florida Man Claims

Planting a marijuana patch on open property is not a good idea in states where the drug remains illegal. Claiming ownership of said plants while accusing law enforcement officers of theft might be an even worse idea.

An Interlachen man found that out the hard way earlier this week, according to the Putnam County Sheriff’s Office.

It seems the man’s story began to unfold last Friday when a county code enforcement officer was inspecting a property off Lake Susan Road. On that property, the sheriff’s office said in a media release, the inspector happened to find a large number of marijuana plants growing. The code enforcement officer reported the find to deputies.

Detectives from the sheriff’s office drug and vice unit responded to the scene. They spent “several hours eradicating 91 marijuana plants,” the release said.

Once the plants were taken care of, detectives went to work trying to determine just who owned the property and who might be responsible for the grow operation.

The owner, the sheriff’s office said, did the legwork for them.

On Monday, a man walked into the sheriff’s office “to complain to a supervisor that Sheriff’s Office detectives had stolen his marijuana patch,” the release said. “He was immediately taken into custody.”

Boyd Gene Wiley, 47, was booked into the Putnam County Jail on possession charges. He was later released in lieu of $1,004 bond.

Wiley, the sheriff’s office noted, told deputies the plants were removed without his permission and they were being grown for use as “medical marijuana.”

Only very limited use of medical marijuana has been approved by the state legislature. Florida voters narrowly defeated a constitutional amendment in 2014 that would have paved the way for more widespread medical applications. Supporters are working to get the issue back on the ballot in 2016.

Booking photo courtesy of the Putnam County Sheriff’s Office