Keith Carpentier’s traffic stop winds up exposing plants, pounds and nearly $20k
Staff Report
Humboldt Sentinel
An unfortunate traffic stop during a local man’s out-of-state trip led the Humboldt County Drug Task Force straight to his grow house yesterday.
Task Force agents got the call Tuesday from the Oregon State Police Department, who said they’d taken down 39-year-old McKinleyville resident Keith T. Carpentier while he was allegedly committing a traffic violation on Interstate 5 near Eugene. Upon searching his vehicle, Oregon cops found 15 pounds of processed cannabis bud, promptly arresting Carpentier on marijuana sales and transportation charges.
DTF immediately obtained a search warrant for Carpentier’s house on the 2200 block of McKinleyville Avenue, where they found 49-year-old John Paul Krekeler as well as a “commercial indoor marijuana growing operation.”
The bust consisted of 102 growing marijuana plants (from four inches to three feet in height), 40 pounds of recently harvested plants, 15 individual pounds of processed bud, one shotgun, one pistol, and $19,73o in cash.
The county Building and Planning Department responded to the scene to make the pro forma determination that the electrical wiring for the indoor grow was a possible fire hazard, which was used as justification to force Pacific Gas and Electric to remove electricity service from the residence.
Krekeler was arrested on cultivation and sales charges and taken to county jail without incident; Carpentier’s extradition will be handled by the District Attorney’s office, again for cultivation and sales of marijuana.
This case is still under investigation by DTF, according to Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office lieutenant Steve Knight.
