Pitcairn pot grower gets 5 years behind bars
A Pitcairn felon who was growing 348 marijuana plants in the middle of McKeesport went to federal prison Thursday for five years after first telling the judge that his hope for the future is to create a new online platform for legal research.
U. S. District Court Judge Joy Flowers Conti imposed the 60- month term on Lamar Rice, 41, who admitted in April that he ran a grow operation in a McKeesport apartment.
Some of his plants were 6 feet tall or more, the FBI said.
He had pleaded guilty to possession with intent to deliver, maintaining a drug property and a weapons offense for bullets he’s not allowed to have.
The FBI in 2017 raided 321 Fifth Ave., an abandoned apartment that Rice had commandeered, and found the plants growing under industrial lighting. In another room, the agents found packaging for heroin and fentanyl.
They also saw unused ammunition, spent shell casings and bullet holes in the walls. A search of his house turned up a box of ammunition.
Rice is a felon and isn’t allowed to have ammunition or guns.
Under federal law, Rice faced a mandatory sentence of five years or more, and both prosecution and defense agreed the 60 months is what he should get.
“I understand the sentence,” Rice said. “I have nothing else to say.”
He did later say, however, that he would like to take computer courses in prison so he can pursue a career.
In a letter to the judge, he said he found that doing legal research on his own was time- consuming. He said his goal is to create a more userfriendly platform for legal research to rival services such as Westlaw and LexisNexis.
He said he had an epiphany in the lockup and is determined to succeed at doing something legitimate.
“So in essence my time being incarcerated has sparked a new calling for me!” he wrote. “And this is of becoming the new dotcom superstar.”
U. S. marshals led him away.