BY DAN HILDEBRAN
Telegraph Staff Writer
STARKE— A Bradford County man apologized for growing marijuana in his home after being sentenced to two years’ drug offender probation.
Harry James Donaldson III, 57, pleaded to cultivating cannabis and to renting or owning a structure known to keep or sell drugs. The state dropped an additional charge of child neglect without great bodily harm. The defendant spent 37 days in jail before sentencing.
According to an arrest report, police responded to the defendant’s residence after receiving a Crime Stoppers tip that Donaldson was growing marijuana in his home.
The defendant told police that he grew tomatoes in the house and agreed to let officers search the residence.
Detective Andrew Johnson wrote in an arrest report that officers found temporary tents inside the defendant’s living room. Inside the tents were a green leafy substance, exhaust fans, lights and digital thermometers.
A search of the living room yielded pots, potting soil and a book entitled “Homegrown Marijuana.”
“Post Miranda,” wrote Johnson, “Harry advised that he had been growing marijuana inside of the tents. Harry also explained that he thought he had removed everything from the tents but forgot to clean all the marijuana from the tents.”
Johnson added that police also found 61 grams of marijuana inside a shed on the defendant’s property.
During his sentencing, Donaldson told Circuit Judge James M. Colaw that he has a medical marijuana card and uses the drug for a medical condition.
Donaldson said he now realizes that possessing the card does not permit him to grow the plants illegally. He apologized to the court, his lawyer and his family for growing the plants in his home.
“I’ll never do that again,” he said. I never intend to take any risks to take me away from my family ever again.”
Colaw noted that the 57-year-old had no prior criminal history and withheld adjudication.
“I believe you,” the judge told Donaldson. “You made it a long way through your life without doing anything wrong, and that says something about you. Good luck.”
