SUSPECT PLEADS NO CONTEST IN MARIJUANA CASE : CANYON COUNTRY RESIDENT GETS 16-MONTH TERM FOR CULTIVATION-STORAGE AREA LOCATED UNDER HOUSE.

Byline: Lisa Van Proyen Daily News Staff Writer

A man accused of growing high-grade marijuana in bunkers beneath his Canyon Country home agreed Tuesday to plead no contest to two felonies and spend 16 months in prison.

In exchange for his plea to counts of possession of marijuana for sale and being an ex-felon with a firearm, two other felony charges were dropped against John Curtis Moreaux, 39.

Moreaux had faced a maximum of four years and eight months in state prison, said Deputy District Attorney Terry White. He will be credited for the 72 days he has served since his Jan. 30 arrest.

Moreaux was arrested during a raid on his home in which sheriff's deputies found what they called a state-of-the-art growing operation in bunkers the defendant apparently excavated himself under his modest one-story home.

His home contained an extensive system to funnel away heat and odors so authorities could not detect him, officials said. Seized were four loaded guns, books about hiding assets, passports, $500,000 worth of harvested pot, and 40 marijuana plants, said Detective Ed Nordskog of the Santa Clarita Valley sheriff's station.

Moreaux's defense attorney, Eric Shevin, said many of the plants found at Moreaux's home were not capable of producing marijuana. His client, Shevin said, was growing the drug for medicinal purposes, including to treat his epilepsy.

``This offer is too good to pass up. If he had fought it further, there wouldn't have been any less of a sentence,'' Shevin said. ``This is a small-grow case. Mr. White knows more about narcotics cases.''

White said he reviewed the case and decided to offer the plea bargain because of the amount of drugs involved and the fact that Moreaux had no recent convictions. White worked in the major narcotics and forfeiture division in Los Angeles before his recent assignment to Newhall.

Moreaux, who also owns a Newhall store called Chew'z Hemp that sells products manufactured from hemp - a relative of the marijuana plant - was convicted 17 years ago of selling cocaine.

Authorities agreed to drop the cultivation of marijuana charge, rather than the possession of marijuana for sales charge in order to prove that he is a drug dealer, Nordskog said.

``The possession charge shows he was a drug dealer,'' Nordskog said.

When Municipal Court Judge H. Keith Byram was first presented with the plea bargain Tuesday, he said: ``It sounds like a gift.''

Deputy District Attorney Andy Reynolds emphasized that his office takes marijuana cases seriously, and will prosecute operations such as Moreaux's.

Authorities from Oroville in Butte County showed up for Moreaux's hearing Tuesday, but never presented evidence in court that was allegedly suppose to tie Moreaux to drug operations in Northern California.

A Northern California woman had offered her apartment complex as collateral to post $500,000 bail for Moreaux, and authorities were trying to determine whether the building had any drug connection.

Authorities would not comment about whether Moreaux agreed to offer information about the Northern California drug ring as part of his plea bargain.