POT-FARM SUSPECTS HAVE GROWN IT BEFORE.

Byline: David R. Baker, Stacy Brown and Mary Schubert Daily News Staff Writers

The money was just too good and the penalties too weak to keep Victor and Linda Dejoria and Wayne Iannola from growing marijuana on a large scale again, authorities said.

And the skill of law enforcement was too good to allow them to do it for long.

The Dejorias and Iannola were arrested Wednesday on suspicion of growing 2,000 plants in Chatsworth. Each had been arrested at least once before on similar charges, authorities said Thursday.

Victor Dejoria was convicted of cultivating marijuana after sheriff's deputies found 900 plants in Malibu in 1993. He ended up serving 90 days in jail, a Los Angeles County sheriff's detective said Wednesday.

``Nine hundred plants,'' said Detective Ed Nordskog. ``At the lowest possible estimate, it's worth $3 million. And the most he gets on a felony conviction is 90 days? That's why they do it.''

Linda Dejoria was arrested in 1993 with her husband, and Iannola was arrested in December 1996 and later convicted of raising 500 pot plants, Nordskog said. The outcome of Linda Dejoria's case was not immediately available.

The plants seized in Chatsworth on Wednesday could produce about $2 million worth of marijuana annually, authorities said. And another raid Wednesday related to the case yielded $200,000 in plants from an Agua Dulce home.

Those convicted of cultivating marijuana face between 16 months and three years of jail time, said Sandi Gibbons, a spokeswoman for the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office. Individual judges, however, still have the ability to grant probation when they deem it warranted, possibly resulting in shorter sentences.

Nordskog said he believes same sentencing laws that the Dejorias and Iannola faced in 1993 remain in effect today.

Deputies on Wednesday found in Chatsworth a sophisticated indoor marijuana farm, complete with grow lights and an irrigation system.

A fourth suspect in the case, David Joseph Clark, 40, surrendered to authorities Thursday at the Santa Clarita Valley sheriff's station. Deputies believe he was the caretaker of a 100-plant indoor marijuana garden in Agua Dulce that they raided Wednesday.

Investigators believe Clark was learning the craft from the Dejorias and Iannola. Clark decided to cooperate with authorities when he realized that detectives would be looking for the owner or caretaker of the house, said Deputy Craig Husbands.

All four suspects were in custody Thursday on what Nordskog said was $250,000 bail for each.

Authorities said Thursday that they believe Clark is a relative newcomer to marijuana cultivation.

Although the number of plants discovered Wednesday may pale in comparison to some of the larger outdoor marijuana farms found recently in rural areas, Nordskog said pot grown indoors fetches a far higher price. Indoor growing operations can create ideal conditions for the plants, yielding higher-quality marijuana.

``It's like comparing a fine wine to Ripple,'' said Nordskog, with the Sheriff's Department's narcotics and marijuana enforcement division.

Grow lights not only simulate sunlight, they are timed to mimic the long hours of a summer day, thereby fooling the plants and speeding up their pollination cycle, Husbands said.

``You're trying to psych the plants out to make them think the days are longer so it will accelerate their growing,'' he said.

Husbands said that technique also stimulates the pot plants to produce higher levels of tetrahydrocannabinol, commonly known as THC, which is the chief intoxicant in marijuana.

As a result, pot grown indoors can fetch $400 to $700 per ounce, while some grades of outdoor pot sell for $60 per ounce, Nordskog said.