Crime & Safety

Couple to Serve Jail Time for Growing Pot

A couple tied to a Temecula marijuana cooperative were sentenced to serve jail time for an illegal grow.

A couple tied to a Temecula medical marijuana cooperative were sentenced to serve jail time.

William Bunn, 36, was sentenced to a year and four months in state prison, and his 28-year-old wife was ordered to spend 80 days in county jail, but was given credit for one day in custody.

The 79 days will be served on consecutive weekends, according to Riverside County District Attorney's Office spokesman John Hall, who said Mary Bunn also was sentenced to 48 months of formal probation.

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The sentences were handed down Friday by Superior Court Judge Ronald Johnson, who also ordered the husband to pay restitution and fines totaling $1,210.

The Bunns were arrested in 2008 when investigators found 79 marijuana plants growing in a detached garage at their rural Wildomar home, according to prosecutors.

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The building was equipped with paraphernalia indicative of marijuana cultivation, including artificial lighting, a climate control system and independent hoses for each plant, prosecutors said.

Investigators also found 2.05 grams of marijuana in various places within the Bunns' home and a glass smoking pipe that appeared to be recently used.

A .380-caliber semi-automatic handgun was found on a shelf above the refrigerator, with three live rounds sitting next to the weapon, and a 12-gauge shotgun was found in a bedroom, with live ammunition nearby, prosecutors said.

The Bunns' son was 22 months old at the time of the August 2008 search and was taken from the couple for several months.

Just before the investigators served the warrant at the Wildomar home, the Bunns were in the process of joining of the Human Kindness Center, a marijuana cooperative based in Temecula, according to center president Chris Yap.

The Bunns were found guilty of a felony charge of cultivating marijuana and a misdemeanor charge of willfully endangering the health of a child. They were acquitted of felony child endangerment.

William Bunn was additionally convicted of possessing a firearm within 10 years of a prior conviction.

City News Service contributed to this report.


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