15 days ago
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- A little homemade sunshine, a sprinkle of dew and covering it all in chocolate is not how you receive a miracle or two. But a golden ticket to jail instead.
Kevin Kennedy, known as "Willy Wonka" in his Riverside neighborhood, was arrested for growing marijuana and using it for his roommate's homemade chocolate fudge.
A neighbor alerted police to the activity after a faint odor could be smelled coming from the home on Dancy Street. When officers arrived, they were met by Kennedy in his backyard and asked to search.
When they found nothing, Kennedy told police he was a skilled gardener and grew the vegetable plants to make money.
According to a report, Kennedy started acting suspicious. When an officer spotted a vent coming from a garage, along with electrical cords, he asked to search inside.
Kennedy told police there were only gardening tools inside the garage.
Police found something different: two custom built rooms used only for cultivating marijuana. Florescent lights, air conditioning units and air purifiers along with insulation were used to grow the 49 plants.
Police questioned Kennedy's roommate, but he told police that the grow house belonged to him. The roommate told police she previously used the marijuana to make homemade fudge, but doesn't anymore.
When police searched the rest of the home, they found six more plants, along with a book on how to grow marijuana at home.
In all, 55 plants were destroyed. Kennedy, who has previous marijuana charges, was arrested for cultivating the plants.
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