Grow house suspects appear in court

SANDPOINT — Two people connected to a $9 million indoor growing operation made initial court appearances on Monday.

Danny Ray Ferguson and Lydia Teresa Ferguson are charged with trafficking. They are free on a reduced bails of $50,000 after voluntarily appearing in 1st District Court, court records show.

Arraignment hearings are pending.

A Bonner County grand jury indicted Danny Ferguson, 52, and Lydia Ferguson, 50, this summer on allegations that they operated the grow from November 2009 to July of this year, according to court documents.

Sheriff’s narcotics detectives obtained a search warrant for a home at 192 East Selkirk Road north of Ponderay and discovered sophisticated growing equipment and more than 1,300 high-quality marijuana plants, court records show.

Defense counsel for the former California residents asked for his clients to be released on their own recognizance because both have a litany of health problems and they willingly appeared in court. Deputy Prosecutor Shane Greenbank objected to a no-bail release because of the seriousness of the offense.

Greenbank told Judge Steve Verby on Monday that the two-story home was effectively one big grow room and the street value of the crop was estimated at $9 million.

Narcotics agents previously testified that they believe the pot was being grown to supply medical marijuana dispensaries in southern California.

Chuck Dean Mack was also indicted by the grand jury on seven counts of delivery of a controlled substance.

Mack is described as the grow operation’s caretaker in documents filed in the Ferguson cases.

Mack, a 52-year-old from Hope, pleaded not guilty to the felony offenses and a five-day jury trial is set for Dec. 13.