A Lisbon man in federal custody for marijuana possession is free on his own recognizance after his lawyer successfully argued that his only crime was having land where wild hemp grows.
52-year-old Patrick Green was arrested in August and accused of having nearly 900 marijuana plants and pot being prepared for sale in his barn on Keystone Road. Authorities said they were tipped off to Green’s activities by parents of youths who may have been involved in the drug activities.
Green’s lawyer Melissa Tuohey argued that the plants were hemp and not marijuana, and were growing in an area known to have wild hemp. She and a Private Investigator visited the site of the farm and found “numerous” areas where the plant was growing.
Additionally, a bust in 2003 that was credited as a massive seizure by authorities just 1 mile away from Green’s farm is now believed to have been hemp growing wild. The Sheriff said at the time they believed it was marijuana, even though it was apparent there had been no one tending it and was growing at random.
Tuohey said they are waiting for final test results back from lab before moving forward and said motions will be filed “in the near future” to have the charges dropped.
