4 men sentenced for ties to marijuana operation

Published 11:44 pm Thursday, July 16, 2009

SEATTLE — Four men, including three from Snohomish County, connected to a ring of indoor pot farms are going to prison.

The ringleader, Jerry R. Berkey, 36, of Seattle, was sentenced to more than seven years in federal prison for manufacturing marijuana. Prosecutors allege that during the past five years, Berkey organized marijuana growing operations, including several houses in Lynnwood, Edmonds and Everett, and made hundreds of thousands of dollars selling dope.

Berkey paid for the plants and equipment, rented the houses and distributed the pot to buyers, according to court documents. Berkey admitted that he was involved with growing more than 4,000 plants in five different locations.

“Your greed and your attitude towards the laws of the U.S. has wreaked havoc,” U.S. District Court Judge Marsha Pechman said Thursday. “You haven’t earned a decent living legally in years. What did you tell your kids when you came home? ‘Daddy’s had a tough day at the grow?’”

Prosecutors alleged that Berkey attempted to distance himself from his criminal activities by recruiting friends who were having financial problems to tend the crops in exchange for free rent.

Berkey was arrested in 2008. He pleaded guilty in April to manufacturing marijuana.

Three other men also were sentenced Thursday for their ties to the indoor farms.

Robert Manning, 44, of Snohomish, was sentenced to more than a year. Brad Jager, 33, of Marysville was sentenced to five years in prison. Quentin Cannon, 37, of Edmonds was sentenced to more than two years behind bars.

Pechman urged the Bureau of Prisons to put the defendants in drug treatment while they are locked up.

Diana Hefley: 425-339-3463, hefley@heraldnet.com.