Pot grower gets probation, but is held on immigration charges
By GREG WELTER
Posted: 09/16/2009 12:35:58 AM PDT


WILLOWS — Ricky The Chu, an Oakland man who pleaded no contest in August to single counts of marijuana possession and theft of utilities, was sentenced to time served and five years probation in Glenn County Superior Court Friday.
A 52-month state prison sentence was suspended.

Chu, 35, would be out of jail now, if authorities hadn't learned he was in the U.S. illegally.

Chu's immigration status was discovered Friday as he was being processed for release.

A resident of Vietnam according to jail records, Chu was arrested in early January on charges of cultivating marijuana in the basement of a Willows bargain store he said he intended to operate, and at a home he rented near Artois.

Authorities confiscated more than 1,600 plants and sophisticated growing equipment at the two locations.

Assistant District Attorney Dwayne Stewart said Chu, through his San Francisco attorney Terence Hallinan, agreed to a plea bargain that disallowed his time served — amounting to nearly nine months — and required forfeiture of his growing equipment.

As part of his five-year probation, Chu must obey all laws and not get involved in marijuana growing at any level.

With an immigration hold placed on him, the possibility Chu will serve probation at all remains in doubt.

Jail commander Lt. Tim Asbury said Chu could be deported. "It's up to the immigration authorities at this point," Asbury said. He believes authorities have about a week to determine if they'll take action.

Chu is married, and reportedly has family living in the San Francisco Bay Area.

At an arraignment, Chu pleaded not guilty to nine felony counts, including cultivation of marijuana for sale. At a hearing in January, Hallinan argued that Chu was not a "criminal type," but was growing the gardens at the suggestion of a friend to overcome hard economic times.

The street value of the pot was estimated at $1.3 million. Growing equipment, now forfeited, was valued at $82,000.

At the basement store garden, Chu had allegedly tapped into electrical wires that served Willows municipal facilities.


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