https://www.courts.mo.gov/casenet/baseCase # 10AB-CR02527
Charges were issued Wednesday, December 1, 2010, against Robert Kline, 57, following his arrest this week for possession of marijuana. Kline, who was on federal supervision following his release from prison in January, was taken into custody by Franklin County Narcotics officers and Sullivan police at a Sullivan home.
During Kline's arrest, he was found in possession of more than 35 grams of marijuana (reported to be nearly half a pound), a felony. While not enough to warrant much attention from federal authorities, it likely will lead him back to prison. As of Wednesday, Kline was being held in lieu of $50,000 bond.
Kline was involved in a major marijuana operation in parts of Franklin, Gasconade, and Montgomery Counties in 2002. That operation was said to include approximately 300 plants. He was Sentenced in March 2003 to a 10 year Federal Prison Term.
ORIGINAL 2002 BUST DETAILS
Kline was first arrested for growing marijuana "fields" along the Missouri river that were located in Montgomery, Warren, Franklin and Gasconade counties in 2002.
Authorities seized hundreds of pounds of high-grade marijuana and arrested three men in what some investigators called one of the largest marijuana growing operations uncovered in years in the Franklin, Gasconade, and Montgomery Counties area. The suspects were taken into custody as they returned from harvesting some of their crop, around midnight Friday, September 20, 2002.
Investigators discovered 8 "fields" or plots of marijuana at different spots along both sides of the Missouri river.
Each plot contained between 25 and 50 plants. Authorities were estimating that each plant would yield about two pounds of "premium" marijuana.
Investigators had watched the men launch a boat from the City of Hermann, Missouri river access about 6:30 p.m. and return about 10:30 p.m. When they left the river, one man was seen carrying a large trash bag from the boat to a car. The men then left in the car and a pickup truck hauling the boat.
Investigators then followed the men to the Gasconade river landing at Gasconade where they put the boat back into the river and left. One of the suspects, who remained at the landing with the vehicles, was taken into custody. In the car, officers found a large bag containing about 50 pounds of marijuana.
A short time later, officers watching one of the fields observed the suspects at the site, taking cuttings from some of the plants. They were allowed to leave on the assumption that they were returning to the boat ramp where other officers already were in position.
When the suspects returned to the Gasconade boat ramp almost two hours after departing, one of the men got out of the boat and went to back the trailer into the water. He was taken into custody, and an officer then took his place, backing the trailer down the ramp to retrieve the boat.
When the boat was pulled from the water, officers approached the pilot, Kline, who was said to be holding a flashlight in one hand and a clump of marijuana buds in the other, according to reports.
As officers approached, Kline allegedly threw the marijuana away, but it was thrown directly at an officer. At his feet in the boat was a bag filled with approximately 35 pounds of freshly cut marijuana, investigators said.
Following the arrests, officers executed search warrants at Kline's home in Sullivan and at a mobile home he owns at a lake development in Washington county, authorities said. Drug paraphernalia and equipment used in indoor growing operations was seized at both locations.
Investigators believe Kline and the other suspects used the equipment to start the plants from seeds in late winter and early spring, then transplanted the young plants to the fields in early summer. Detectives suspect the harvested marijuana was processed at the mobile home.
Franklin County Sheriff Gary Toelke said investigators received information about the growing operation about two months ago prior.
http://www.emissourian.com/news/top_stories/article_54a17832-71ce-5b61-80de-21b24ae85542.html
http://www.emissourian.com/news/top_stories/article_b781e007-c6d9-5e83-af17-61d49fbbbef7.html
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