NEWTON — A trial date was tentatively set Monday for a 43-year-old man who was arrested for growing more than 100 marijuana plants in the backyard of his Newton home last summer. Shawn Bittner was arrested Aug. 8 by Newton police after they received a tip from a neighbor who claimed he saw what he believed were marijuana plants...
NEWTON — A trial date was tentatively set Monday for a 43-year-old man who was arrested for growing more than 100 marijuana plants in the backyard of his Newton home last summer.
Shawn Bittner was arrested Aug. 8 by Newton police after they received a tip from a neighbor who claimed he saw what he believed were marijuana plants growing in flower pots in the backyard of Bittner’s home on Park Avenue, Sussex County Assistant Prosecutor Thomas Reed said.
A subsequent investigation uncovered 127 marijuana plants up to six feet tall in pots, on Bittner’s property and in his home, where drug paraphernalia was also found, police have said.
Bittner was charged with the manufacture of a controlled dangerous substance, a first-degree crime punishable by up to 20 years in prison.
During a hearing yesterday in Newton before Superior Court Judge N. Peter Conforti, Bittner rejected a plea bargain agreement which would have required him to plead guilty to the first-degree offense and be sentenced to 10 years in prison.
Bittner, a self-employed computer consultant who lived alone, did not speak during the hearing but expressed surprise when Reed told Conforti that the suspect asked police at the time of his arrest why the plants couldn’t simply be destroyed.
Conforti tentatively scheduled a trial for Sept. 13. Bittner is free on $100,000 bail.
Previous coverage:
• Newton police find 127 marijuana plants growing in resident's backyard
