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Thomas Lee Carter, 59, was released on a $200,000 appearance bond, according to US Attorney's Office spokesman Jack Gillund.
Gillund said Carter's release was secured by property at 1622 Hunter Point Road in Upper Lake.
Carter was arrested by Drug Enforcement Administration agents on Sept. 1 on allegations of possession with intent to distribute marijuana and violation of previous release terms, as Lake County News has reported.
He had been arrested on another count of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute marijuana and two counts of distributing or possessing with intent to distribute marijuana in August 2009 along with several co-defendants. Carter also was released last year on a $200,000 bond secured by the same Hunter Point Road property.
The government is alleging he is part of distributing marijuana in Lake County, as well as San Diego and Los Angeles.
According to a redacted complaint filed by the US Attorney's Office, DEA Special Agent Brandon Burkhart stated that two sources had come forward in June to accuse Carter of growing marijuana, which would have violated the terms of his release.
Burkhart was involved in the August 2009 arrests and, previous to that, had provided evidence against Upper Lake marijuana grower Eddy Lepp, now serving a federal prison term.
Both of the informants were said to be former employees of Carter, who also runs a construction company. One had left after a disagreement, the other after being treated unfairly, according to Burkhart's statement.
One of the informants claimed to have seen Carter grading an area in Upper Lake in June with no grading permit issued, with the informant stating that he believed Carter was clearing the land to grow marijuana. Burkhart's affidavit also included the allegations by informants that Carter was affiliated with illicit grows
In August a deputy sheriff and a county probation officer took part in an overflight of Upper Lake around Carter's various properties, and they recorded coordinates for several marijuana grow locations and observed marijuana plants growing on parcels near Carter's residence, the documents stated.
Burkhart reviewed the GPS coordinates and found they fell within the lines of Carter's properties. He also compared the photographs taken of the area to GPS locations and identified a garden with 85 to 100 plants. He later took part in an overflight himself and saw what he believed were the same marijuana plants.
He stated that he believed Carter was planning to distribute the plants and he requested Carter be arrested and that searches take place of five locations.
Federal public defenders Barry Portman and Geoffrey Hansen filed documents that challenged Burkhart's assertions, stating that Carter denied knowing marijuana was being grown on the property
They also pointed out that one of the informants was a convicted felon, which they said led to questions about his prior conviction status. The other informant has two prior convictions and currently grows marijuana, they stated.
During the Sept. 1 raid, 70 marijuana plants were found at 1545 Hunter Point Road, owned by Carter but leased to another individual and located three miles from his residence, where no plants were found, according to the defense motion.
At another Carter-owned property leased to a couple 29 plants were found, the attorneys stated. Carter, who denied knowing of that grow, was not charged for those plants.
Carter's attorneys also asserted that Carter had complied with his pretrial directives and has been regularly drug tested, with no dirty tests submitted. A pretrial services officer who visits Carter regularly “has found no evidence that Mr. Carter uses, possesses or sells marijuana,” the filing stated.
In a followup filing on Tuesday, the defense attorneys demanded to be able to cross-examine the informants as part of a hearing on whether or not to release Carter, who they said had a Sixth Amendment right to confront the witnesses against him.
Despite the government's arguments to keep Carter in custody, the hour-and-a-half-long hearing Wednesday morning resulted in his release. His wife, Jamie Ceridono, is ordered to sign onto the bond on Sept. 14, according to court documents.
Carter and co-defendants Brett Bassignani, Scott and Diana Feil, Steven Swanson and Mark Garcia are scheduled to return in January for continued proceedings in the case arising from the August 2009 arrests.
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