Press sports columnist David Mayo suspended with pay after being charged with growing

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Original Story --> hxxp://www.mlive.com/news/grand-rapids/index.ssf/2009/02/press_sports_columnist_david_m_1.html

GRAND RAPIDS -- Police say longtime Grand Rapids Press sports columnist David Mayo grew marijuana in his home, neatly preserving his crop in canning jars.


Mayo's home was one of five separate marijuana-growing operations investigated by the Kent Area Narcotics Enforcement Team over the past month as part of a crack-down on indoor growers, police say.
Mayo, 48, was arraigned Wednesday in Grand Rapids District Court on charges he manufactured more than 20 but fewer than 200 plants, a seven-year felony. He also is charged with maintaining a drug house at his home on Fuller Avenue NE. That charge is a two-year, high-court misdemeanor.


The volume of plants equates to between 11 and 99 pounds of marijuana, according to the charging information, but more specific information was not included.


Police would not indicate how they became aware of the alleged operation at Mayo's home.


Mayo turned himself in Wednesday morning at the Kent County Jail. A warrant for his arrest was issued by the prosecutor Friday.
Press Publisher Dan Gaydou said the newspaper became aware of the allegations Wednesday morning. Mayo has been suspended with pay pending further investigation, he said.


Court records show Jan. 19 as the date the narcotics team, comprised of numerous local law enforcement agencies, discovered Mayo's alleged growing operation.


Earlier this month police released a photo of marijuana-filled canning jars seized in one of their then-unspecified raids. On Wednesday they said that photo was part of what was taken from Mayo's home.


Lawyer Bruce Block said Mayo, his client, is cooperating with police and prosecutors. Block said the plants were for personal use and Mayo was not selling them.


"This wasn't heavy drugs or anything like that," Block said.
The broad statute under which Mayo was charged makes it illegal to manufacture, possess or "deliver" controlled substances, but delivery was not alleged in court on Wednesday when the charges were read.
Block said there is no evidence his client was selling. He also said the "drug house" charge does not mean a person is selling, but instead is manufacturing and holding the marijuana.


Kent County Sheriff's Lt. Kevin Kelley, the narcotics team's spokesman, also said there had been no indication from Mayo he intended to sell the marijuana. But the statute gives police the authority to charge someone with intent to deliver based on volume of the drug, he said.
"The wording of the charge encompasses a lot of things," Kelley said. "If you're charged with possession of a certain amount, you could be charged with intent to deliver even if you never delivered anything in your life."
Mayo appeared in court briefly by video and told the judge he understood the charges. He said he has lived in Grand Rapids for 23 years. He has no prior criminal history.


His probable cause hearing is scheduled for Feb. 19, and he was released on a personal recognizance bond.


An arrest warrant was also issued on Feb. 3 for Mayo's wife, 45-year-old Denise Mayo, listing charges of possession of marijuana, a misdemeanor punishable by up to a year behind bars, and maintaining a drug house. Her date of offense also is Jan. 19.

Police made several other arrests in a month-long sweep that discovered five different growing operations, Kelley said. One of the suspects was charged in Grand Rapids District Court and two other people are expected to face federal charges. Two other cases remain under investigation.
David Mayo has been employed at The Press since 1985 and has covered collegiate and professional sports, including the World Series and Super Bowl. He specializes in boxing coverage and has traveled the country to report on the career of Floyd Mayweather. A native of Kirby, Ark., he is a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America.




UPDATE: hxxp://www.mlive.com/news/grand-rapids/index.ssf/2009/02/search_yields_71_marijuana_pla.html


GRAND RAPIDS -- Police found 71 marijuana plants and 32 ounces of packaged marijuana in a January search of Press columnist David Mayo's home, according to records obtained today by The Grand Rapids Press.
Mayo's lawyer said about 17 of the 71 plants were large enough to be "harvestable." But the rest were seedlings, maybe an inch or two tall, lawyer Bruce Block said.


The Press obtained a transcript of a Feb. 3 hearing before Magistrate Fred Hartley in which police briefly outlined allegations to obtain a felony warrant for Mayo's arrest.



It said officers found the plants, which field-tested positive for marijuana, when they used a search warrant on Jan. 19 to raid the Fuller Avenue NE house of David and Denise Mayo, the only occupants.

Mayo was arraigned Wednesday,
charged with manufacture of more than 20 but fewer than 200 plants, a seven-year felony. He also is charged with maintaining a drug house, a two-year high-court misdemeanor.
In obtaining the warrant, the officer did not indicate the size of the plants, or describe the packaging. Police have released a photograph that shows marijuana buds in 10 canning jars, and said it came from Mayo's home.
Block said he has not seen police photographs but was told by officers that the "vast majority of the alleged marijuana plants were small, non-usable."
"It was not 70 huge plants, it was less than 20," he said.


Block said he has not been told why police targeted his client. He maintains that the plants were for "personal use" and that Mayo was not selling marijuana.

Mayo's home was one of five marijuana-growing operations investigated by the Kent Area Narcotics Enforcement Team in the past month.

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