$200,000 Pot Bust in Ft. Pierce

FORT PIERCE -- Police found almost $250,000 worth of marijuana plants during a pot bust Thursday, more than enough to put a local couple behind bars.

Police said Michael Carty, 44, and his wife Tiffany Carty, 32, of Fort Pierce, had been growing pot in their home for the past four to six months. They'd turned an entire floor in their two-story home into a growhouse.

The Cartys are being held on charges of cultivating marijuana, possession of marijuana with intent to sell, and possession of drug paraphernalia.

Investigators seized 134 marijuana plants worth more than $200,000.

They also seized some sophisticated lights for growing marijuana indoors.

Police say Carty and his wife had devoted the first floor of their home on Grenada Street, two blocks from the ocean, to growing pot and they were using the second floor as their living quarters.

"I'm not surprised. I'm not surprised at anything these days. You never know what happens around you sometimes. I just, I had no clue at all. I haven't even seen these people, they haven't been here that long I guess," said Jane Laniak, a neighbor who lives a couple of houses down the street.

"What he would do is he would try to package, harvest and package it, and sell it in large quantities. He relayed information that he wanted to basically make enough money to get out of Florida," said Sgt. Don Christman with the Ft. Pierce Police Department.

Police said the 134 pot plants took up three rooms in the couple's house, and they believe this was the first marijuana crop they had grown before they were caught.

According to police, the Cartys do not have any children.

Investigators said Michael Carty worked as a handyman and did building maintenance work and his wife did not have another job, besides the alleged pot growing operation.

They're both behind bars on $10,500 bond.