Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, September 5, 1995 TAG: 9509050095
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DAN CASEY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
The incident occurred Saturday in an area along the Blue Ridge Parkway just above Adneys Gap called Sweet Annie Hollow.
``We have stalks of marijuana, processed marijuana and freshly harvested marijuana,'' said Lt. Karl Martin of the state Inland Game and Fisheries Department. ``We weren't in this particular instance looking for drug violations. We just happened to discover them.''
Accompanied by a Park Service ranger and a Franklin County sheriff's deputy, Martin was checking hunting licenses on the first day of the dove and squirrel seasons.
They were on foot looking for hunters when a man garbed in camouflage clothing and carrying a large duffel bag came down a trail toward them, Martin said. The man quickly tossed the bag into undergrowth, prompting the officers to stop and question him.
Martin said they found the sack full of freshly picked marijuana. The suspect led them to two plots of marijuana where 20 plants - some nearly 9 feet tall - were seized.
The suspect also led them to another patch near Smith Mountain Lake on a ridge above Bettys Creek. Twenty more plants were seized there.
Then he took the officers to his home in Wirtz, where they found a quantity of processed marijuana that Martin described as ``in the pounds.'' The total haul had not been weighed, Martin said.
Stephen T. Proctor, 30, of Wirtz, was charged with felony marijuana possession and manufacture, Martin said. Proctor, who Martin said is employed by the state Department of Transportation, was taken to the Franklin County Jail pending an arraignment on Wednesday.
by CNB