Feds seize Valley pot grower’s house

MAT-SU — Federal authorities have seized a Palmer man’s home at 700 N. Golden Hills Dr. as part of his third conviction for growing marijuana there.

According to a Tuesday press release from the U.S. Attorney’s office, Loren K. Dodds, 48, was convicted in federal court April 3 on a single count of manufacturing marijuana.

Federal authorities say that Dodds was convicted of growing marijuana in the home in 1994 and in 2008. This third and most recent set of charges came last year.

The latest grow, according to court filings, included 666 plants. A federal press release says that includes 7-foot-tall “mother plants” and much smaller starter plants. The court filing says the operation included 15 light systems, along with “numerous box fans, squirrel fans, timers and digital PH readers with digital display.”

Investigators took the operation down Feb. 2, 2013. Two days later, they received information about the power usage on the property, which averaged out to 32 kilowatts per day.

“Based on the fact that there were 15 light systems in use, along with numerous fans and filters at the time of the search warrant execution, I believe this kw usage to be low,” an Alaska State Trooper investigator wrote in the affidavit. “Each of the light systems will on average use approximately 12 kw hours of electricity in a 12-hour period.”

Troopers then obtained a search warrant to look for evidence of power theft. While looking for that, they found evidence Dodds had been diverting natural gas to his house in a way that circumvented his gas meter.

As for how the case came to light, a young boy, along with his mother, who was living with Dodds, accidentally spilled the beans when he asked someone for a knife to help Dodds, who goes by “Kent,” cut down the marijuana plants.

The woman he asked for the knife knew the boy stayed with Dodds during the day while his mother was at work and she told troopers Dodds was always good to the boy.

The boy told the woman that, “Kent grows lettuce, lots and lots of lettuce for all of his friends. (The boy) said he grows a whole house full of lettuce and that there is water and lights and stuff,” the woman told troopers.

She seemed concerned about the boy’s safety and the safety of troopers, telling officers to be safe.

“He has guns and things and I don’t want anything to happen to you,” the woman told troopers.

In a brief filed in court on the day troopers searched the home, prosecutors say that they didn’t find Dodds, but his pickup was at the house. Dodds told someone else he’d jumped out the window when troopers showed up, according to the brief penned by federal prosecutor Kim Sayers-Fay.

When investigators eventually caught up to him, Dodds told them he didn’t live in the house, that he rented it to a couple whose last name he didn’t know and whose number he didn’t have. He said he lived in a motor home on the property.

Borough property records show Dodds owns two lots in a neighborhood south of the Palmer-Wasilla Highway just west of Trunk Road. The home is assessed at more than $300,000. Prosecutors say it is more than 3,000 square feet in size.

In addition to the guilty verdict handed down April 3, the jury in Dodds’ case entered a judgment forfeiting Dodds’ home to the federal government on the grounds it facilitated his grow operation.

Dodds is set to receive his sentence June 20. The sentence could range between 10 and 40 years, and Dodds could be ordered to pay up to $5 million in fines.

Contact Andrew Wellner at 352-2270 or andrew.wellner@frontiersman.com.