Glades Electric Cooperative offers $500 bounty for marijuana grow houses

[SomeGuy]

Apparently to be a "good neighbor" in Florida, you should spy on them and report them to Electric CoOp and the cops and collect a $500 bounty for being a snitch.


Florida News Sun

published: Sunday, December 07, 2008

Glades Electric Cooperative offers $500 bounty for marijuana grow houses

Special to the News-Sun

Glades Electric Coop-erative Inc. is placing a $500 bounty on illegal grow operations, which steal electricity and cost the company and its members thousands of dollars every month.

Paul McGehee, business development manager, said, "It is time to take a stand against the thieves that pollute our society with their illegal crop and cost our citizens hundreds of thousands of dollars, and that is precisely what one GEC member did."

McGehee said a phone call made by a member to their trustee directly led to the discovery of an illegal grow operation so large that early estimates put the dollar value of stolen electricity at close to $50,000 and yielded a crop of more than 100 plants.

"For their diligence and civic-mindedness, the alert member will receive a $500 cash reward and, we would hope, the gratitude of the other members of Glades Electric Cooperative from whom this electricity and money was stolen," McGehee said.

"Glades Electric Cooperative certainly appreciates the member's efforts, as we do all of our honest and law-abiding members, and wants to extend the incentive for helping stamp out these illegal ventures."

As a result, GEC has instituted the following: If a member suspects an illegal grow operation in GEC's service area, contact the Power Diversion Team Hotline at (863) XXX-XXXX. If the hotline is busy, information can be taken in Moore Haven at (800) XXX-XXXX, Okeechobee at (800) XXX-XXXX, or Lake Placid at (800) XXX-XXXX. Any member of the general public that provides Glades Electric Cooperative, Inc. information that directly leads to the discovery of an illegal grow operation will be paid a $500 cash reward. The identity of the informing citizen will be kept strictly confidential.

The member noted several suspicious things:

l The residence was maintained as if occupied, but there was never anyone home during the day.

l There were children's toys present in the yard, but no children were ever observed.

l There was no trash ever placed on the curb for pickup.

l There was late night traffic in and out of the property.

l The air conditioner ran continuously.

l There were numerous power "blinks."

"At Glades Electric Cooperative, we are proud to be 'Neighbors Working for Neighbors' and want to encourage all of our members to adopt the same philosophy.

"Let us all strive to be good citizens and look out for our fellow 'neighbor'," McGehee said.

 

[Tony Aroma]

It sounds like Glades is more concerned with people stealing electricity than anything else. You can't really hold that against them, although in this case the results are unfortunate. While I don't think growing or smoking marijuana should be illegal, I do believe stealing should be. It's just too bad that the two often go together.

 

[Chunkybuddha]

Is it a coincidence that old people like to spy and this is happening in Florida?

 

[cktRAVEl]

...

 

[Chunkybuddha]

The utility companies have been "legally" stealing from the people for a long time.
Think Enron, California Energy Crisis etc...

Maybe we the people should put out a bounty to catch utility companies in the scams that they pull.

Ha touche, I like it... I am getting tired of paying for this "delivery" charge every month anyway.

 

[useless people]

Snitches should all be dragged out into the street and shot

 

[funker]

How can anyone besides the power company tell if you're stealing electricity? none of the justifications cited include anything about seeing wiring bypasses to avoid paying for the electricity...what a joke...

 

[dontstepongrass]

thanks for the list of things to avoid glades electric!

 

[Kinderfeld]

Why avoid them? Are you planning on stealing...because I think a safer bet is to stay away form the trashy people who steal, and of course the obvious don't steal it yourself. Who cares about people getting busted who steal electricity, better they go after those instead of us who actually pay our bills and do nothing illegal besides growing a victimless plant. It's like saying avoid wal mart...they are busting people swiping electronics and running out... ??...

 

[dontstepongrass]

umm no. i agree that stealing is morally wrong but this policy doesn't effect only those who steal power. in fact, NONE of the lines on the checklist even suggests stealing power, only that there could be grow room in operation.

the list is a helpful reminder of what nosy neighbors and service men watch for... avoid things on the list, and minimize exposure.

 

[Kinderfeld]

in fact, NONE of the lines on the checklist even suggests stealing power, only that there could be grow room in operation.

"Glades Electric Coop-erative Inc. is placing a $500 bounty on illegal grow operations which steal electricity and cost the company and its members thousands of dollars every month."

Yea they aren't pinpointing those with stolen electricity. And its not like the person snitching knows the difference between stolen and paid for. I guess they just want people snitching on one another just in case they are stealing power....which is lame..why not use the $500 for oh I don't know people who report like...murders or kidnapping??? Oh wait that doesn't effect their $$....hopefully no body gets killed over snooping or breaks any trespassing laws, with the right circumstances I can see a lawsuit against this company, hopefully that is.

 

[whodi]

electric company paying people to snitcch......... pathetic.

You're right about tresspasing and all... they should have gone about it differently. Someones going to get shot.

 

[SomeGuy]

If they explained what to look for when someone is bypassing the meter I'd think OK, but they give this generic list, which could include any number of situations, as reason for suspicion to drop a dime on your neighbor.

Its obvious they want to bust grow houses whether they are stealing or not and a quick search of the news in FL shows they are pretty successful at it.

 

[Tony Aroma]

Its obvious they want to bust grow houses whether they are stealing or not and a quick search of the news in FL shows they are pretty successful at it.

Yeah, that's true. But I think it's the stealing of electricity that got the electric company involved. I'm sure they couldn't care less about people growing weed. Heck, the bigger your electric bills, the more profit they make. As long as you pay them. This is just a way for them to go after the electricity thieves and sound like they are doing something noble for the community at the same time. Like most things in this country, especially the war on drugs, it's all about the money.

 

[picasso345]

If I was a member of this Glades Co-op, I would ask them why are you people so damn incompetent that YOU can't find people stealing electricity? Why did you let the grow house in your example steal $50,000 worth of electricity? Sounds like incompetent management to me.

 

[White]

Snitches should all be dragged out into the street and shot

Amen brother!

 

[Pythagllio]

Glades reward to be paid, Police seize 341 marijuana plants

Glades reward to be paid, Police seize 341 marijuana plants

By BRAD DICKERSON

Highlands Today

Published: May 7, 2009

LORIDA - A Lorida man remained in jail today on $115,000 bail after his arrest for allegedly operating a grow house.

Laurence Carl Whalen, 57, of 340 Meadow Lane, Lorida, was arrested Wednesday and charged with production of marijuana, trafficking marijuana and possession of drug paraphernalia.

On Tuesday, Glades Electric Cooperative employees went to Whalen's home to check on a blown electrical transformer. One of the employees, while speaking with the suspect, thought he could smell marijuana coming from inside the house. Because of the smell and the electrical problem, the man called the Highlands County Sheriff's Office, according to the arrest report.

Deputies went to the Meadow Lane home at 11:51 p.m., Wednesday. Whalen came to the door and law enforcement reportedly could smell fresh marijuana inside. The suspect was detained because of suspicion he was producing marijuana.

The sheriff's office's Special Investigations Unit was notified and came to the scene. Investigators saw that many of the windows on the front of the house were covered on the inside, which is commonly done by indoor marijuana manufacturers, according to the report.

Investigators also reportedly found an electrical diversion near the electrical meter, a cut PVC pipe, several air conditioning units, plant containers and a water supply line made from garden hoses.

Because of everything that was found, detectives obtained a search warrant for the inside of the residence. They allegedly discovered 341 live marijuana plants weighing more than 25 pounds, grow lights, light bulbs, irrigation equipment, cooling equipment, plant containers, carbon filters, CO2 generators and fertilizers.

Whalen told investigators he had been living at the house for at least three months. John Singha, with the sheriff's office, made the arrest.

Last December, Glades Electric began offering $500 cash rewards for information that directly leads to the discovery of an illegal grow house operation.

Business development manager Paul McGehee said at the time that grow houses can cause anywhere from $2,000 to $6,000 a month in stolen electricity, which leads to lost revenue and higher rates for members.

McGehee said Thursday the initiative has been going very well and calls they've received have directly led to the dismantling of one grow house.

"Other cooperatives across the state have adopted a very similar type program," McGehee said.

If anyone suspects an illegal grow operation in Glades Electric's service area, they can call the Power Diversion Team Hotline at 863-946-6229.

If the number is busy, information can be taken in Moore Haven at (800) 226-4024, Okeechobee at (800) 226-4023 or Lake Placid at (800) 226-4025. The identity of the caller will be kept confidential.

Highlands Today reporter Brad Dickerson can be reached at (863) 386-5838 or [email protected]

http://www2.highlandstoday.com/content/2009/may/07/la-police-seize-341-marijuana-plants/

 

[DogBoy]

One of the employees, while speaking with the suspect, thought he could smell marijuana coming from inside the house. Because of the smell and the electrical problem, the man called the Highlands County Sheriff's Office, according to the arrest report.

If the number is busy, information can be taken in Moore Haven at (800) 226-4024, Okeechobee at (800) 226-4023 or Lake Placid at (800) 226-4025. The identity of the caller will be kept confidential.

Err Schenanigans! Confidentially placed on an internation news feed? Oh, that kind of confidential.

 

[Kizzattack]

Someone should just report every house in the entire state. It would take a hell of a lot of work, but it would really mess up this operation.

 

[SemperAltus]