An Apple Valley couple found themselves in handcuffs earlier this week when local authorities busted their not-so-legal marijuana operation. Jeremy Ewell, 38, and Marissa Marie Ewell, 36, were arrested on Tuesday afternoon after detectives, accompanied by the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Marijuana Enforcement Team, served a search warrant at the couple's residence, located on the 13300 block of Tioga Road in the Town of Apple Valley, per official reports from the Sheriff-Coroner Department.
Detectives stumbled upon a significant marijuana grow-op during their raid that appeared to be more built for business than for personal pleasure and while California might be known for its relaxed stance on cannabis, the couple's setup was anything but law-abiding, it encompassed more than 10,000 plants a bundle of 286 illegal THC vapes and didn't stop there, with 716 grams of concentrated marijuana wax along with 91 pounds of processed weed all seized from the property. Following their arrests, the Ewells were booked into High Desert Detention Center on charges related to the cultivation and sales of marijuana, as documented in the official statement released by the San Bernardino Sheriff-Coroner Department.
Not long after their initial apprehension, both Jeremy and Marissa Marie Ewell managed to post bail, subsequently brushing off their orange suits in favor of the comfort of their own clothes, until their day in court arrives. As the investigation continues, Sergeant J. Gernon with the Apple Valley Sheriff’s Station has opened the floor to the public for further information, urging anyone with knowledge on the case to step forward and contact either the Sheriff's Dispatch or the We-Tip Hotline to contribute to the case discreetly, details of which were shared by Pamela Hoffman of the Apple Valley station.
The local community, long reconciled with the smell of cannabis as a fact of life in the post-Prop 64 era, finds itself reminded that while possession and consumption might have loosened their legal restraints, the large-scale cultivation and distribution continue to cross a line, the Ewells' brush with the law evidences the system’s resolve to maintain order within the green rush even as the particulars of those rules seem ever in flux, however, what lies ahead for the Ewells will unfold within the confines of the courtroom, where they will be required to present their defense against the charges filed, indicated by the case number 182502804.
