YPSILANTI, MI – A highly sophisticated marijuana grow operation in an Ypsilanti man’s basement was shut down after the homeowner was arrested for allegedly hiding cameras in a restaurant bathroom.
Brad R. Szachta, 33, of Ypsilanti, faces 10 felony charges in connection with a pair of spy cameras found hidden in the unisex bathrooms at Ollie Food and Spirits, 42 E. Cross St., last May and the discovery of the grow operation in his basement, according to an Ypsilanti Police Department report obtained by MLive/The Ann Arbor News through a Freedom of Information Act request.
Szachta was identified as a suspect in the hidden camera investigation, and police obtained a search warrant for his home May 24, according to the report.
RELATED: No additional spy cameras found in Ypsilanti restaurant bathrooms, police report says
While talking with police, Szachta admitted to having a grow operation in the basement, but denied owning anything police found, claiming those items belonged to a friend, the report said.
Police seized 38 live plants in various stages of development, 10 five-gallon buckets filled with loose harvested marijuana, a storage tote filled with loose harvested marijuana, several large trash bags filled with marijuana, a locked freezer filled to the brim with 50 vacuum-seal bags of marijuana and notebooks full of handwritten grow records with calculations of yields and expected profits per grow, records show.
Including packaging, police seized 130 pounds of harvested marijuana from Szachta’s basement, according to the report.
Based on a rough estimate of how much a pound of marijuana sells for in Michigan, police seized about $260,000 worth of processed marijuana.
The production and sale of recreational marijuana in Michigan was approved by voters in 2018 with recreational shops opening for business in December of 2019. But Szachta does not appear to be a licensed grower, according to a search of the state’s Licensing and Regulatory Affairs database.
Szachta also is charged with six counts of illegally capturing or distributing images of an unclothed person, each punishable by up to five years in prison; two counts of using a computer to commit a crime, each punishable by four to 10 years; one count of possession between 20 and 200 marijuana plants, punishable by up to seven years and possession of an excess of 45 kilograms — nearly 100 pounds — of marijuana or 200-plus marijuana plants, punishable by up to 15 years.
Man accused of hiding cameras in Ypsilanti restaurant bathrooms heads to trial
He waived preliminary examination, Jan. 16, sending his case to trial and is scheduled for a pretrial hearing Feb. 24 before Washtenaw County Trial Court Judge David Swartz.
Szachta is free on a $5,000 personal recognizance bond.
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