[420 Girl]

BEULAH -- Rory Heckman knew he'd find marijuana inside a local house before he walked through the front door.

"You could smell it on the public sidewalk," said Heckman, Benzie County's sheriff.

Deputies busted a "full grow operation" Monday night in the basement of a Beulah residence at 320 Benzie Court. They seized 250 marijuana plants, $500 cash, lights, and irrigation and ventilation equipment. The marijuana and equipment had a value of about $250,000, Heckman said.

Authorities initially arrested two suspects, but on Tuesday only charged Ralph James Hornsby, 34, of Beulah, with delivery/manufacture of marijuana. A woman, 17, was released.

Hornsby remains in the Benzie County Jail on a felony charge that's punishable by up to four years in prison and/or $20,000.
"The one guy took full ownership," Heckman said. "He's been involved in the drug trade for awhile. He knew what he was doing."

Hornsby spent nearly three years in prison for a 2005 marijuana conviction, Michigan Department of Corrections records show. He also remains on probation for a 2008 fourth-degree criminal sexual conduct conviction that involved a person between the ages of 13 and 16.

The basement was sectioned into three rooms, each draped with heavy, black tarp to assist in the marijuana growth process, Heckman said. Each marijuana plant varied in height from a foot to five feet.

Deputies plan to incinerate some of the marijuana that was moved into the department's evidence barn and keep the rest as evidence.
"With that big of an operation, we're going to have to destroy some of it," Heckman said.

Neighbors were shocked that a drug operation was so close. Annabelle Billings lives across the street from the alleged drug house but said she had no clue about the marijuana bust until Tuesday.

"I just didn't know that type of stuff was going on in this neighborhood," Billings said. "We always find it very quiet in this neighborhood. In the wintertime, most of these people go to Florida."


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