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Five people were jailed Monday (Aug. 5) after some $80,000 worth of marijuana was seized in Qualla community.
Arrested at their home in Mission Valley Estates were Christina Dawn Bateman, 22, and Michael Anthony Pheasant, 24. Both are jailed under a $12,000 bond.
Also arrested were Mavis Dawn Young, 55, and Randalena Pheasant, 29, both of Whittier, and Meroney George Shell, 43, of Cherokee, who are all being held under a $10,000 bond.
All five have been charged with felony possession of marijuana, possession with intent to sell and deliver marijuana, maintaining a dwelling for the purpose of sale of a controlled substance and manufacturing marijuana, said Sgt. Ron Mathis of the Jackson County Sheriff's Department.
Deputies seized some 20 large marijuana plants with an estimated street value of $4,000 per plant for a total of $80,000 for the lot, which ranged in height from 6 to 8 feet.
The marijuana plants were growing outside the back door of the house and were spotted by J.D. Raby, a Cherokee game warden, at about 7:30 p.m. Monday. He examined the plants through his binoculars to verify that they were marijuana and then alerted the Sheriff's Department, Mathis said.
Mathis and Sgt. Matt Helton, also of the Sheriff's Department, arrived at the residence some three hours later. While they were talking to the five who were arrested, two additional suspects fled out the back door, Mathis said. The additional suspects remained at large as of Herald presstime, he said.
Sgt. Neil Ferguson of the Cherokee Police Department assisted with the arrests.
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Jackson County Sheriff Jim Cruzan is shown with some 20 large marijuana plants seized Monday night (Aug. 5) in Qualla community. The plants, which range in height from 6 to 8 feet, are estimated to have a total value of about $80,000. Five Whittier and Cherokee residents were arrested and are currently being held in the Jackson County Jail, Cruzan said. The plants, which were growing just outside the back door of a house in Old Mission Estates, was spotted by Cherokee game warden J.D. Raby, who then reported the marijuana to the Sheriff's Department. Cherokee's Police Department assisted with the arrests. - Herald photo by Lynn Hotaling