Issue link: https://newsleader.uberflip.com/i/129431
Sarasota News Leader May 10, 2013 Page 68 POT BUST YIELDS FIVE HIGH-GRADE POUNDS Sarasota Police officers on Monday, May 6, announced the arrests of two mid-level 
marijuana dealers and the seizure of five pounds of vacuum-packed grow-house pot. The action capped a six-month investigation by city detectives, who received an anonymous tip in September about deals going down in local nightclubs, according to a report. Detective Greg Grodoski was assigned the case, which quickly ballooned into a serious investigation involving surveillance and a wiretap. Grodoski determined Anthony Snead was receiving weekly shipments at his rental residence, 635 Audubon Place, in the Park East neighborhood. A department news release said, "Detectives were able to determine that Snead has been receiving five-pound marijuana deliveries approximately once a week for the past couple of years." They said each pound cost Snead $5,000, equal to $300 per ounce in bulk. Using the department's estimates, Snead purchased more than one-quarter of a ton of marijuana over the past 104 weeks, and he paid $2.6 million for the deliveries. Sarasota Police Chief Bernadette DiPino said the arrests would send a message to local dealers: "Look out; we're coming after you." The five pounds of confiscated marijuana sit on a table at the Sarasota Police Department. Photo by Stan Zimmerman Ledwith and DiPino said the investigation Detective Lieutenant Pat Ledwith added that continues to follow up the leads developed Snead was a "mid-level distributor" who sold over the six months of detective work. to retailers who then repackaged the drug and Washington State and Colorado recently legalput it on the street. Snead is 67 years old. ized recreational use of marijuana. Also arrested was his alleged accomplice, 40-year-old Andy Charlton. Stan Zimmerman