Man pleads not guilty to growing 85 marijuana plants

A 26-year-old Naalehu man accused of possessing scores of marijuana plants and 52 pounds of dried marijuana entered not guilty pleas to a half-dozen felony charges on Wednesday in 3rd Circuit Court.

David Alexander McFadden pleaded not guilty to first-degree commercial promotion of marijuana, two counts second-degree commercial promotion of marijuana and three counts possessing drug paraphernalia before 3rd Circuit Court Chief Judge Ronald Ibarra in Kona. McFadden remains on supervised release.

Ibarra set McFadden’s jury trial for April 28, 2015.

If convicted of first-degree commercial promotion of marijuana — a Class A felony — McFadden faces up to 20 years behind bars and a maximum fine of $50,000, according to Hawaii Revised Statutes.

The charges filed against McFadden stem from an Oct. 21 search warrant executed at his Palaoa Road residence. During the search, Hawaii County Police Department Area I Vice Section Detective Aaron Kaleo, who was the lead investigator in the case, said police located 12 “budding,” or flowering, marijuana plants, 73 “clones” in a screened grow area on the property and an electric ballast, exhaust fan and grow lights.

Kaleo testified during a preliminary hearing earlier this month that the 73 plants inside the grow area measured 2 to 3 feet in height while the plants outside were about 7 feet tall.

Inside McFadden’s home, officers reportedly located a large bag containing 19 pounds of dried marijuana, a digital scale and a notebook containing details about the growing operation. On a lower level of the residence, Kaleo testified, officers located 33 pounds of dried marijuana in three large bags, a smoking pipe and shears.