Arcata resident sentenced for marijuana grow, forfeits cash

☛TS Arcata resident sentenced for marijuana grow
On Wednesday, a Humboldt County Superior Court judge sentenced 38-year-old Arcata resident Jeremy Bensen to 270 days in jail for the cultivation of marijuana and providing false information to commit a fraud, the Humboldt County District Attorney's Office reported Thursday.

According to information from the District Attorney's Office, in December 2007, Humboldt County Drug Task Force agents found two properties under Bensen's name that were drawing abnormally high amounts of electricity, leading them to serve search warrants at both properties.

On Dec. 18, 2007, while serving a warrant at 2559 Baldwin St. in Arcata, agents reportedly found 89 marijuana plants with processed marijuana, a scale and $1,640 in cash.

During one nine-month period, that property drew between 3,800 and 6,000 kilowatt hours, the District Attorney's Office reported.

At another property on 3178 Pigeon Point Rd. in Eureka, agents reportedly located 228 plants, processed marijuana and $3,600 in cash.

During a six month period, agents learned the Eureka property drew between 5,700 and 7,800 kilowatt hours of electricity.

An additional 40-acre property in the Pilot Rock area of Southern Humboldt was searched, yielding around 100 growing marijuana plants.

Agents located bank records showing $101,590 had been deposited in cash during 2006, and $157,170 was deposited over the following year. A number of those deposits, the office reported, were structured in a way to avoid reporting large cash deposits.

In addition to the jail sentence, Bensen forfeited the money seized in the search warrants.

Deputy District Attorney Maggie Fleming argued against Bensen, who was represented by defense attorney Mark Harris..