Side Lake, MN Man Busted For Growing 2,000 lbs. of Pot

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Side Lake, MN Man Busted For Growing 2,000 lbs. of Pot

By KBJR News 1

Story Published: Sep 16, 2009 at 2:33 PM CST

Story Updated: Sep 16, 2009 at 7:45 PM CST

A Side Lake, Minnesota man has been arrested for allegedly growing more than 2,000 LBS. of marijuana.

The Boundary Waters Drug and Gang task force was conducting a fly–over of the man's property when they spotted the plants.

Officers arrested 49 year old Thorsten Gorham Otterness after obtaining a search warrant for his property.

During the search authorities found part of the house converted into a marijuana drying room, with plants hanging from strings running across the ceiling.

In other rooms, and in a cabin next to the house, marijuana was also being planted and grown.

In all officers found more than 1,300 plants, which they removed.

Otterness is facing charges of possession and possession with intent to sell, plus possession of a prohibited firearm.

If convicted the suspect faces more than 40 years in prison and one million dollars in fines.

Sunday, Sep 20 at 9:04 PM crooked jew wrote ...

what would cheech and chong think about this

Sunday, Sep 20 at 5:39 PM Wow! wrote ...

I live in california.St. Louis county is living in the stone age!Or should I say not the stone age...

Sunday, Sep 20 at 1:14 PM Anonymous wrote ...

Really had a full time job as a neurosurgeon? Would love all the facts-how much do the cops keep, how much does his trial/prison time cost me, how much pot did he really have-not counting dirt and stems! So hard to decide when we can't ever have the truth-from BOTH sides.

Sunday, Sep 20 at 1:12 PM Anonymous wrote ...

Someone needs to call Woody H.!

Sunday, Sep 20 at 11:01 AM Anonymous wrote ...

and for all the people that think this man didn't have a regular day job, he did. so he is not some loser that relied solely on his pot growing/selling for money. knowing the cops, they probably kept for themselves:)

Sunday, Sep 20 at 9:01 AM No big deal wrote ...

Its pot no big deal this man is helping others, He not a deputy child molester we will see how the chain of justice is served

Saturday, Sep 19 at 8:59 AM jean wrote ...

give me a break nobody is ever violient on potthey drive slower smile more and dont hurt anyone

Friday, Sep 18 at 1:38 PM T.A. wrote ...

do you see the new building he needed built to support the process? i'm not sure of all the drawbacks but the benefits of keeping money in peoples pockets doesn't merit the money spent to catch petty offenders.

Friday, Sep 18 at 12:08 PM Anny wrote ...

Some of our legislators were and maybe still are growing pot.

Thursday, Sep 17 at 6:01 PM pat wrote ...

Its not as easy to grow weed as you may think there is all the cops in the USA after you then all of the criminals and you can trust no one so no wonder its a money making machine oh but you have to sell it before you can make a thing on it so for you people that think its easy try it.

Thursday, Sep 17 at 4:15 PM who cares wrote ...

who cares that he grew pot? Really? Aren't we more worried about things like curing diseases...pot actually helps glaucoma, cancer patients can eat and some of the nausea goes away, then people act like it's meth. Do we ever see movies with people smoking pot getting violent and killing people? No we don't because it doesn't happen.

Thursday, Sep 17 at 2:59 PM Tax Payer wrote ...

If Marijuana was legal, like beer, cigarettes, and tomatoes --then none of this court-business ($$$) will be necessary. The only party benefiting from this man's arrest are law enforcement agencies($$$$) and court's bank account($$$$$$), and prison's bank account($$$$$). Leave pot people alone!! It is time to legalize Marijuana. End the black market and enjoy the tax benefits and new jobs from this amazing plant. Let's get smart about our pot laws!

Thursday, Sep 17 at 1:30 PM ryan wrote ...

That Sucks

Thursday, Sep 17 at 1:17 PM sara wrote ...

this poor guy. I was just watching a case where a man was sentenced to 73 days in prison for rape/ aggravated assult. What is wrong with our justice system. This man just grew a plant... whats the big deal??? he does not produce mass quantities of chemically altered drugs i.e. meth... lets crack down on meth and not so much on a harmless plant.

Thursday, Sep 17 at 12:24 PM YaaaaNoooo wrote ...

It's not legal. Take the risk... reap the rewards. Get caught... pay the consequences. The older generation stepped upto the plate and legalize alcohol when will are generation do the same with pot? Look and learn from California. Big brother and society has us scared to death to do anything because of the rediculous punishment associated with it. Will we ever be able to stand up and say enough is enough? Legalize it and close half our prisons in the process!

Thursday, Sep 17 at 12:20 PM Anonymous wrote ...

Why would anyone be stupid enough to even think they wouldn't get caught. It sickens me that people want to make this legal, do you people not see what it does. This guy just took the easy route for money instead of working like the rest of us have to do.

Thursday, Sep 17 at 11:51 AM Northland wrote ...

I agree with makeing Pot leagle. Tax the hell out of it. We don't care. 40 years over some weed. Thats bs. Either bring in more jobs or more plant farms pop up outa no where. Plain and simple.

Thursday, Sep 17 at 11:24 AM Ynot wrote ...

Ya, a million bucks is a lot of fine. And I'm sure he was just growing it solely for his personal use.... {{His daytime job is a neurosurgeon}}

Thursday, Sep 17 at 10:35 AM M. Grove wrote ...

I agree with the guy above... you can kill a human and get less time than that. Seriously!

Thursday, Sep 17 at 10:29 AM Mark Gisleson wrote ...

The Romans called it bread and circuses. We get McDonalds and pro football. Wouldn't legal pot be a better solution to the hard times we're facing? If you can't give someone a job, at least give them a chance to not care about not having a job for a few hours every night. Does wonders for helping you get a good night's sleep, as well.

Thursday, Sep 17 at 10:02 AM just do it wrote ...

Well at least he is not on welfare, hes working for a living more than most people can say, I agree it not legal but the politicians steal from everyone and thats not legal but nobody cares

Thursday, Sep 17 at 9:10 AM Anonymous wrote ...

I don't see why people are getting so worked up over it. It should be legalized. People grow weed, oh well. It's money. Calm down, and it's not just people on the range, it's everywhere.

Thursday, Sep 17 at 7:10 AM 40 years and a million wrote ...

dollar fine. You can murder someone and get far less than that.

Wednesday, Sep 16 at 10:51 PM Anonymous wrote ...

NOT THE JOBS JUST A EASY BUCK WHILE THE REST OF US WORK HARD FOR WHAT WE HAVE

Wednesday, Sep 16 at 10:49 PM Anonymous wrote ...

funny how they comper it to alcohol, nothing to do with it just something eles to blam it on!!!NO ONE HAS TOP TAKE CREDIT FOR THERE SELFS ANYMORE

Wednesday, Sep 16 at 9:34 PM Anonymous wrote ...

except it's illegal so just shutup and get over it...

Wednesday, Sep 16 at 9:31 PM Joe wrote ...

lemme ask you... was it 2000 lbs of buds? or 2000 lbs all together? huge huge difference..... i bet it was the latter.... they usually leave the dirt on the roots too to make it heavier

Wednesday, Sep 16 at 6:46 PM pat wrote ...

There is a lot of people growing weed all over the northland indoors and out they will never stop it most people know that weed is safer than alcohol and those that don't need to realise it cause its true.

Wednesday, Sep 16 at 5:42 PM Anonymous wrote ...

FOR THE SIZE OF THESE PLANTS, HE HAS BEEN DOING THIS LONGER THAN THE ECONOMY HAS BEEN BAD. CAN'T BLAME THE ECONOMY FOR THIS, BUT I DO BELIEVE IT SHOULD BE LEGALIZED. WE ARE THE ONES PAYING FOR THE PEOPLE THAT END UP IN JAIL OVER SOME POT.

Wednesday, Sep 16 at 5:00 PM 420 freind wrote ...

They need to either get jobs in the northland or just leave people to survive on there own ,, This is bull they need to legalize it and then put a tax on it, More people are in trouble with alcohol than pot

Wednesday, Sep 16 at 3:58 PM Ynot wrote ...

More importantly, isn't it time to parse northern St. Louis county off into a new, separate county? The perfect name would be: Darainch County. Start the Movement....

Wednesday, Sep 16 at 3:07 PM MIlestogo wrote ...

Alcohol then, pot now. Same outcome. Drugs & crime increased w/ bad economy = re-legalization as outcome.

Wednesday, Sep 16 at 3:01 PM aimee wrote ...

Thats funny Steve - people grow it all over the country - not just the range. Sounds to me like this guy was just a smart business man that got caught.

Wednesday, Sep 16 at 2:47 PM Steve wrote ...

Another economy related crime. I'll bet if there were decent jobs in the area folks wouldn't turn to growing pot.

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