Art Dealer Sentenced for Growing Marijuana

[Herb Fellow]

FLEMINGTON - A Lambertville art dealer was sentenced yesterday to six years in prison for growing 18 marijuana plants at a farm in Delaware Township. Axel Wieschenberg, 47, who was the owner of Art of Eden, a gallery on Union Street, had pleaded guilty in January to one count of maintaining or operating a marijuana production facility, officials said. He will not be eligible for parole for two years, Superior Court Judge Roger F. Mahon said in court in Hunterdon County. Wieschenberg had no prior criminal record.

The plants, whose value was estimated at $36,000, were spotted by a helicopter pilot last summer as part of the State Police Marijuana Eradication unit. Eradication unit Detective Matthew Mancil investigated the marijuana garden, which was in a wooded area of Springwater Farms, a 63-acre tract where Arabian horses are bred. Wieschenberg did not own the horse farm and the farm's owner was unaware that the drug was being cultivated on his property, police said.

After the plants were spotted in a section of the property near Rosemont Ringoes Road, Mancil investigated and found the plants were healthy and well-tended. By conducting surveillance, Mancil discovered that Wieschenberg was the person tending the marijuana garden.

When he pleaded guilty, Wieschenberg admitted that he grew the marijuana plants in a wooded section of the farm where he had previously rented a house. Although he had moved out of the house several months before his arrest in September 2007, he continued to return to cultivate the marijuana plants. If he had not pleaded guilty, Wieschenberg could have faced a 20-year prison term for the first-degree charge.

Source: NJ.com
Copyright: 2008, The Times
Contact: Linda Stein, lstein@njtimes.com
Website: Art dealer sentenced for growing marijuana- NJ.com

 

[Boss]

unreal


Sad little people we are, allowing this kind of justice in our so called "Free" nation.

What scares me, really, is that we are trying to help these people that keep these laws, live longer. We will have people living to 100 on average eventually, and Supreme Court Justices on the bench past that age. (They are appointed for life)

How can we ever hope to change these draconian laws with political appointees on the bench for 50+ years?

Something has to give, and someone in congress must make it happen before law abiding citizens take matters into their own hands.

 

[Herb Fellow]

That's good preaching boss. They scare people with the threat of huge sentences so they will plead guilty. It is blackmail! It's corruption! It's wrong! and boy do I have cotton mouth.

 

[Ms. RedEye]

Folks in New Jersey must be sleeping easier knowing this guy is off the streets for six years. I wonder which violent criminal got probation because he's filling a prison bed....

 

[Cherma]

$432,000.00 is what it will cost to keep this person incarcerated for 6 years, THAT'S
bull _ _ _ t, The money to house one in a State Prison has risen over the last year, and not to mention the loss of a productive citizen and business owner. Yes the streets will be a lot safer, heck the streets will loose any maintanence that $432K could provide. Better yet $432K could help feed many hungry children, or help the elderly that need assistance.$432K could provide a school with new books to help educate many children, or a roof over ones head.
It seems the priorities of many governing bodies in a multitude of states and or countries need to change. Kudos to the many men and women who are dedicated and commited in helping make these changes in societies, and laws that are destroying many lives.

 

[Boss]

Yep, we got some smart judges don't we?