Heidi Fleiss, 'Hollywood Madam,' Growing Marijuana: Nevada Police Find 400 Plants at House
Police looking for a wanted woman went Heidi Fleiss' home in Pahrump, Nevada about 45 miles west of Las Vegas and found a few hundred marijuana plants, Nye County Sheriff Tony De Meo revealed.
The Nye County Sheriff's Department said Tuesday that officers found roughly 400 marijuana plants growing in her home and on her property. Police said 158 marijuana plants were found in her backyard and 234 more in the nearby house.
Fleiss, 47, told detectives she was growing cannabis in order to sell it to a Las Vegas cooperative. Fleiss did admit that she did not have a license that permitted her to do so, according to a news release issued by the Nye County Sheriff's Office.
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Police also found grow lights and materials including several bottles of chemicals used to cultivate marijuana, the sheriff's office said. The plants were collected as evidence and the growing equipment was destroyed.
Police did not arrest Fleiss after the discovery due to the fact that she was caring for exotic birds worth approximately $200,000 and also because officers stated that she was cooperative throughout the investigation, De Meo said.
A spokeswoman for the Nye County District Attorney's Office said that there had been no charges filed against Fleiss as of Tuesday, but did stated that the sheriff's office had turned the case over to prosecutors who may potentially file charges that could include marijuana possession with intent to distribute.
The sheriff's office did not reveal the person who police were originally looking for at the time the discovery of the marijuana was found, but added that police are continuing their search for the person in question.
