Police Find Drug Factory in Monroe

A Monroe man police say told them he had "a few" marijuana plants in his basement, apparently had a lot more than that.

Investigators went to the Spinning Wheel Road home of Curt Porell and Kimberly Finocchio Monday around 6 p.m. after getting a tip that a pot growing operation was being housed there.

Porell, 27, immediately admitted to police he had a few pot plants, according to state police. After that admission, troopers secured the home and waited for a search warrant.

Armed with the search warrant, state police went into the home and found 180 marijuana plants, 2.5 pounds of marijuana, and 8.5 grams of hallucinogenic mushrooms, according to police. Also in the house was pot growing equipment, packaging materials and $11,000 in cash, police said.

Porell and Finocchio, 41, were charged with operating a drug factory, possession of more than a kilo of marijuana, and two counts of risk of injury to a minor. They were each being held on $100,000 for a court appearance Tuesday.

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