POT HOUSES FACE LAWSUITS CITIES USE LITIGATION TO COMBAT DRUG GROWING.

Byline: KAREN MAESHIRO

Staff Writer

PALMDALE -- Palmdale and Lancaster are using civil litigation to combat drugs, filing lawsuits against the owners and occupants of homes where marijuana-growing operations were discovered.

The lawsuits are seeking court orders to seize control of the houses for a year, and impose penalties of up to $25,000.

"We want to maintain these homes as an integral part of the neighborhood. We are not looking to isolate them and make the yards die," Palmdale Mayor Jim Ledford said. "This is going on in our community. We want to do everything we can to shut them down."

Lawsuits have been filed on four houses in Palmdale and one in Lancaster, where deputies found pot farms equipped with elaborate lighting, irrigation, air filtration and ventilation systems.

In Palmdale, deputies found 192 marijuana plants at a house in the 39000 block of Evening Star Street; 70 plants at a house in the 4000 block of East Avenue R-13; 665 plants at one in the 2400 block of Carolyn Drive; and 208 plants in the 37000 block of Justin Court.

In Lancaster, deputies seized 80 plants at a house in the 5300 block of West Avenue L-4.

The pot farm on Evening Star Street was discovered when deputies responded to a burglary call. Deputies found the Justin Court operation after someone called about a fire at the house.

Deputies went to the Lancaster house after receiving a tip from a confidential informant, and the investigation there led them to the East Avenue R-13 location.

The Carolyn Drive house was searched after a deputy on routine patrol detected the odor of marijuana in the neighborhood and traced the source.

The Justin Court raid took place last December, and the rest occurred in February.

"We want the courts to enjoin any use of those properties for a period of one year to send a message to those people who think that cooperating or participating in the illegal production of marijuana is a profitable opportunity. That in fact is not the case," said William Litvak, the attorney who filed the lawsuits for the cities.

"The community does not wish to tolerate this kind of conduct within its borders."

Sheriff's deputies said all the homes were occupied except for the Carolyn Drive residence.

There is no known connection among them, except that a man named Eric Goodman lived in the R-13 house and rented the Lancaster locale, Deputy Ken Price said.

Litvak said its the cities' position that the owners of the homes knew what was going on.

"Even if they didn't, they are still responsible. You can't allow your property to be used in an illicit fashion and claim ignorance," Litvak said.

Four of the houses were bought in either 2005 or 2006. The owners of the Justin Court house were deeded title to it in 1999, the lawsuits said.

Two men arrested at the Evening Star Street home, Eberado Castellanos and Ernesto Cervantes, entered pleas to charges in connection with the case and received jail time and probation, Price said.

Goodman and his father, Elroy Goodman, are facing drug charges and are scheduled to surrender to authorities, according to the District Attorney's Office.

Niall Bergen, Yevgeni Muravsky, and Stacey Scheller are charged in connection with the Carolyn Drive house. Bergen and Muravsky have pleaded not guilty and are awaiting trial and Scheller is being sought on a warrant, Price said.

No arrests were made at the Justin Court location because the occupant fled and could not be identified, Price said.

Officials differed as to why there has been a recent spate of marijuana operations.

Price said society doesn't view marijuana growing as being that illegal, citing California's medical marijuana laws.

"There's a large profit to be made. The penalties are relatively low compared to methamphetamine and cocaine," Price said.

"I'm not sure this is a new dynamic. We've discovered it. The industry has adapted," Ledford said. "They may have grown it outside, that becomes more problematic, and it was easier to go into a neighborhood. As long as neighbors don't know each other, they get away with it."

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