‘Gardener’ for cannabis grow house jailed for six years

A 42-year-old Lithuanian national who acted as a gardener for a cannabis growhouse was sentenced to six years in prison at Sligo Circuit Court, with the final year suspended.

Before Judge Keenan Johnson was Mantas Zadvydas of Ballybrennan, Ballymote, Co. Sligo. The court heard he pleaded guilty to charges of the possession of cannabis, possession of cannabis for sale or supply and cultivation of cannabis plant at Ballybrennan, Co. Sligo on November 20, 2021.

The court heard evidence from Detective Garda Peter Cawley who testified he was on mobile patrol at 1.50pm on the Tubbercurry to Ballymote road at Ballybrennan when he observed a black Volkswagen Passat parked outside a house with four occupants. A rear seat passenger got out and ran towards a house and the car took off at speed.

Finding it suspicious, the garda radioed Ballymote Garda Station, asked that the car be pursued and proceeded on foot to the house. He knocked at the door which the accused opened. He immediately noticed a strong smell of cannabis and cautioned the man who invited him in.

Det. Cawley detailed finding a vacuum bag of cannabis as well as a fully functioning growhouse operation with a number of plants growing. Garda Sharon O’Hara arrived at 5.20pm and in her statement, detailed a glass door concealing a part of the room in the accused’s house. She pulled it back and found 85 cannabis plants visible there.

The court heard from Det. Cawley that the accused had said he was living for three months in Ballymote renting from an acquaintance in Lithuania. When he arrived, the growhouse equipment was installed, and he got the plants from a grow shop and did the planting. He got paid from getting someone to sell the weed. Det. Cawley told the judge it would take six months to harvest the crop having properly set up the operation with irrigation and heat. He confirmed the electricity had been bypassed and the accused was paying the electricity with cash at a local SuperValu.

Prosecuting, Mr Leo Mulrooney BL with Ms Elisa McHugh, state solicitor, set out the valuations. The harvested cannabis was found to weigh a total of 10,055.3g. The 85 cannabis plants with a potential value of €800 per plant totalled €68,000. The total haul was valued at €201,106.

Defending, Mr Eoin McGovern BL with Mr Colm Smyth SC, instructed by Mr Gerard McGovern solicitor, acknowledged it was a large cannabis growhouse and his client had travelled from Lithuania with the sole purpose of making quick money.

He had pleaded guilty at the earliest opportunity and took full responsibility so that it was most likely he was the guardian and not the head of the operation.

His family in Lithuania was very upset and would not condone his behaviour. He had finished formal education at age 16, progressed to the army which he left and then worked in construction and as a driver. McGovern asked for leniency for his client saying he was in custody and had never applied for bail. Prison was very difficult for him and he was isolated by his difficulty in speaking English.

In sentencing, Judge Keenan Johnson said he was satisfied the accused was not the mastermind behind the operation – it was physically impossible for him to have personally set it up on his own in three months. The accused was acting as a gardener and, in most instances people such as him of a vulnerable nature were being brought over to Ireland to engage in gardening and propagation of the plants. The main masterminds were never caught because they put sufficient distance between themselves and those on the lower rung. Nevertheless, the accused came to Ireland for that reason.

The judge said there is a misapprehension that cannabis is a soft drug – the types now grown were more pungent, strong and corrosive, “the type old hippies once used”. Cannabis did damage with 5 to 7 percent of people using it developing schizophrenia. The aggravating factors were it was a big haul exceeding €257,000 and the accused knew he was getting involved for financial gain. Enormous damage was being done to society by the use of drugs. To a large degree, it was planned and sophisticated as evidenced by the growhouse. He was at moderate risk of re-offending according to the probation report and needed to address his association with negative peers and find employment. The mitigating factors were that he had made a guilty plea, co-operated with the gardaí, and took full responsibility with no effort to minimise the offence or make excuses.

Given that he was a Lithuanian national with no English who was finding incarceration difficult and allied to that, he had no previous convictions in either country.

He had been law-abiding, working in the army and in construction and driving jobs. His family had registered their disgust at his actions as well as their distress over him being in prison in Ireland. He was also a prisoner who could not benefit from family visits. The judge imposed a sentence of six years suspending the final year for a period of two years, on condition Mr Zadvydas enter into a bond of €500 and keep the peace and be of good behaviour for a period of two-years post-release, and refrain from the use of illicit drugs post sentence.

The sentence was backdated with counts two, three and four were taken into account.