Accused grower pleads innocent

SANDPOINT - A Bonner County man pleaded not guilty Monday to operating a sophisticated indoor marijuana grow northeast of Priest River.

Fred Lee Stephenson Jr. is scheduled to be tried on a marijuana trafficking charge in 1st District Court in April. He faces a mandatory minimum sentence of a year in prison and a maximum of 15 years.

Stephenson, 26, was charged after the Bonner County Sheriff Narcotics Unit agents raided his single-wide trailer home at 1006 Mirror Lake Road on Sept. 26, 2008. Agents discovered 26 marijuana plants growing in two separate rooms, according to court documents.

A search warrant inventory shows the growing operation was outfitted with an air-injection system, nutrient monitors and various lighting arrays. Four bags containing an unspecified amount of pot were located in a safe, and an account ledger and a digital scale also turned up in the search.

Stephenson apparently aroused suspicion of authorities after a Priest River Police officer cited him for drug possession during a routine traffic stop about two weeks before agents descended on his home, court records show.

 Stephenson was stopped in the city for not having a muffler on his car. During the stop, Stephenson admitted having marijuana in his vehicle, according to Officer Chris Davis' report. Davis noted that Stephenson also had a substantial amount of cash on him, the report said.

In seeking a search warrant for the home, a prosecutor said Stephenson had approximately $1,000 cash on him during the traffic stop, documents in the felony case indicate.

Stephenson is scheduled to be tried on the misdemeanor possession charge in the magistrate division of 1st District Court next month.