Aurora man gets probation for growing pot in yard
A 23-year-old Aurora man who was charged with felony marijuana possession after police said he made bonfires in his backyard to protect his pot plants from an overnight frost in October, recently pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 12 months of probation, according to court records.
Daniel A. Selmon, of the 800 block of Robert Street, also must pay $1,300 in fines and court costs and follow recommendations from a drug and alcohol evaluation, records show.
Kane County prosecutors dropped the more serious felony charge, which was possession of between 2,000 and 5,000 grams of cannabis, in exchange for the guilty plea.
Judge Clint Hull accepted the plea earlier this month in which Selmon pleaded guilty to production of five or fewer marijuana plants.
Selmon also spent 27 days in the Kane County jail while his case was pending.
Aurora police said Selmon was arrested in the early morning hours of Oct. 6, 2012, after an officer noticed two large bonfires burning in the rear yard of a home while on patrol through a subdivision. The officer investigated and saw Selmon and three large plants in plain view. Officers seized the plants, which weighed nearly six pounds, police said.
Selmon’s defense attorney, Adam Wirtz, could not immediately be reached for comment.
The misdemeanor carries a top jail term of 364 days; the felony Selmon had faced was punishable by up to seven years in prison, but probation also was an option.
According to court records, Selmon failed to fulfill two years of probation after he pleaded guilty to felony criminal damage to property for setting fire to a garbage can at West Aurora High School, 1201 W. New York St., on May 1, 2006.
Selmon didn’t pay $500 of his fine and didn’t take a fire safety class or attend drug and alcohol treatment, records show.