FORT PIERCE — Five men caught snipping “buds” off pot plants in a Port St. Lucie house in May 2008 face up to 11 years in prison after being convicted Friday of cultivating marijuana, possession of marijuana and possession of drug paraphernalia.

After a four-day trial at the St. Lucie County Courthouse, a jury deliberated about four hours Thursday evening and Friday morning before reaching guilty verdicts for Reinaldo R. Ramos, 35, of Hialeah, and Jose V. Alvarez-Hernandez, 55, Luis O. Leal, 33, Manuel Gonzalez, 35, and Jose Antonio Blain, 42, all of Miami.

A sixth man arrested at the house in the 1400 block of Southeast Sandia Drive, Jose Blain, 46, of Hialeah, pleaded guilty to the charges. Prosecutors are recommending Jose Blain be sentenced to two years in prison. Sentencing for the men has not been scheduled.

According to Port St. Lucie Police Department reports, all the men except Jose Blain were found harvesting plants in two rooms of the house remodeled as marijuana gardens. Jose Blain was found in the living room.

Investigators estimated there were more than 100 plants and more than 50 pounds of drying marijuana, though they couldn’t determine the exact plant count “due to the stage of cropping,” arrest affidavits state.

Staff report

Tags: arrest, driving, drugs, Hialeah, housing, investigation, jury, man, marijuana, Miami, paraphernalia, police, possession, pot, prison, trial

This entry was posted on Tuesday, July 14th, 2009 at 10:27 am and is filed under Courts, Crime, Port St. Lucie. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.