Clinton Twp. couple facing felony charges
A Clinton Township couple is expected to turn themselves in to authorities Wednesday on charges of having a marijuana grow-operation at their mobile home, authorities said.
The Butler County Drug Task Force in October allegedly seized a number of marijuana plants, digital scales, currency and several loaded guns from the home of Dylan M. Haas, 26, and his girlfriend, Ashleigh M. Young, 23, on Lardintown Road.
Officers noted that the firearms were within reach of the couple's infant daughter, who lives with them. The child's bedroom is adjacent to the alleged grow-op, investigators said.
The task force charged both defendants Monday with manufacture of a controlled substance, possession with intent to deliver a controlled substance, conspiracy to possess with intent to deliver a controlled substance and child endangerment, all felonies.
The couple previously agreed to turn themselves in for arraignment on charges Wednesday at the office of District Judge Sue Haggerty in Saxonburg.
Investigators said they received an anonymous complaint Sept. 23 that Haas was using half of the trailer home to grow marijuana. The source of the complaint also related that Young and the couple's 1-year-old child lived there, and there were firearms at the residence.
On Oct. 23, officers conducted a consent search at the home, which turned up marijuana plants in various stages of growth — from seedlings to harvested and drying branches and buds, officers said.
Seized from a rear closet, officers said, were 37 branches that were hanging on metal and plastic drying racks. The closet, according to charging documents, had been “converted into a grow room using reflective and insulated panels on the floor and walls.”
Officers also found the room equipped with high-strength LED lights on pulley systems, air circulation fans, various kinds of fertilizer, soil enhancers and potting soil.
Near the rear closet was a portable greenhouse that contained eight seedlings that were growing in red party cups.
During the search, documents said, officers also found five loaded firearms — an AR-15 rifle, a shotgun and three handguns — in the home.
Additionally, the search allegedly turned up scales and drug-packaging materials, and $1,195 that was in a Ziploc bag in a duffel bag.
Online court records did not indicate if the defendants have attorneys.
