A 25-year-old man was sentenced Monday to a further 264 days in jail for operating a marijuana grow operation on a large West Lake Road property.
In all, Evan Iovko Jones was sentenced to one year for production of a controlled substance and a concurrent one month for theft of electricity, but he received credit for 109 days time served.
Jones had been arrested in May 2012 after B.C. Hydro staff noticed about 17,000 watts of electricity had been consumed by the property although the meter registered only 2,000 watts.
Hydro reported the concern to police and the North District RCMP's integrated marijuana enforcement task force seized 678 marijuana plants in various stages of growth.
They were found in the home and outbuildings on the 153-acre property and were enough to generate 127 pounds of marijuana, worth as much as $355,000 at the street level, the court heard.
A warrant for his arrested had been issued in December 2014 after Jones, who lives in the Lower Mainland, failed to make a court appearance. But he subsequently turned himself in and he received credit for time served based on 1.5 days for each of the 67 days he's been at Prince George Regional Correctional Centre.
In accepting a joint submission on sentencing from Crown and defence counsels, B.C. Supreme Court Justice Ron Tindale said Jones appeared to have been drawn to committing the crime by the prospect of easy money.
Another man arrested at the scene, Yovko Ivanov Djitlarsky, 49, remains at large after he failed to appear in court on the matter in January 2013.
An application to pay Hydro restitution for theft of electricity will be heard at a later date.
