FAIRMONT —
A Marion County man is lodged in the North Central Regional Jail after sheriff’s deputies discovered and confiscated 79 “very high potency” marijuana plants, valued at upwards of $100,000, in his rural home.
According to Sheriff Joe Carpenter, 48-year-old Kelly Goh of 110 Hoult Road, Fairmont, was arrested Wednesday and charged with felony possession with intent to deliver and cultivation or manufacture of marijuana.
The arrest was the result of a “right place, right time” routine traffic stop Tuesday evening made coincidentally just outside Goh’s residence.
Deputies had pulled an unidentified driver over for speeding and during a routine investigation, the canine officer detected marijuana. The driver admitted to having some weed in a baggie. Police found about 1.2 grams of marijuana. He was cited with speeding and possession, both misdemeanors.
“It was not his house,” said Chief Deputy Ralph L. Wright. “It just happened to be where we pulled him over. He was not involved, to my knowledge.”
Officers smelled “a strong odor” of marijuana not coming from the vehicle, he said.
“It was so strong, that even though there were exhaust fans in the house, the smell got out.”
Narrowing it down to the residence, officers later went through the garbage and found marijuana stems and leaves, giving them probable cause for a search warrant of the residence.
Inside they found four rooms of plants, plus lights, tents, fans, plant food and “thousands of dollars” of equipment.
“We later apprehended the guy, and he has admitted to growing all this,” Wright said.
