| Sanderlin’s alleged grow, from DEA officials. |
Apparently Scarsdale, New York’s Andrea Sanderlin watched too many episodes of Weeds.
Sanderlin, a 45-year-old mom from a well-to-do NYC suburb, is charged with cultivating and trying to distribute $3 million in marijuana from a Queens warehouse.
According to the complaint filed by the Drug Enforcement Administration last month, Sanderlin was running quite the professional operation. The warehouse – registered as “Fantastic Enterprises” with the city and paid for with cash – was split into two rooms.
Neighbors said that Sanderlin passed off her business as a baby furniture business.
Initially the bust of operation was tied to unusually high electric bill – around $9,000 per month. But according to the Smoking Gun, the raid stems from an April bust of two other New York City grow houses.
One of the five men arrested was Sanderlin’s boyfriend and father of one of her children. Another of the men arrested snitched on Sanderlin, claiming she regularly brought seedlings and cash to the grow operations.
In total, the DEA says they pulled about 3,000 plants worth about $3 million. So, they assume each plant is worth $1,000, no doubt including clones and plants in veg. They also raided Sanderlin’s home, where she lives with her thirteen-year old and three-year-old daughters. A maid was also arrested with $7,900 in cash.
Neighbors said they were shocked at the news.
“They didn’t do anything to disturb us. So I guess you would think it shocking for a fellow Scarsdale mom to be doing this,” one neighbor told local CBS News.
We say it goes to show that even the most normal people smoke and use cannabis. Some even sell it.
The Weeds-like comparison has given the story some national attention, and the New York Post even spoke with Weeds creator Jenji Kohan who called Sanderlin’s arrest “a bummer” and said he sympathized with working single mothers trying to make ends meet.
According to US News, Sanderlin faces a minimum of 10 years in prison if found guilty.