A Franklin man was sentenced to home detention and gave up thousands in cash after police found more than 15 pounds of marijuana in his home last year.
Jeffrey Taylor, 43, pleaded guilty to a felony charge of dealing marijuana and was sentenced to two years on home detention.
In a separate civil case, police and prosecutors seized about $75,000 in cash from Taylor, which will then go back to those departments to be used for law enforcement expenses, Johnson County Prosecutor Brad Cooper said.
Taylor had sold property to fund his marijuana operation, Cooper said. Under the law, money that was part of illegal activity can be seized in what is called a forfeiture case, where the money goes to the police departments involved in the investigation and the prosecutor’s office to help with their operations.
Taylor was arrested last year after an ongoing drug investigation led police to search his Graham Road home.
Inside, police found 15 pounds of marijuana, worth more than $30,000, six guns and more than $1,000 in cash.
The amount of marijuana found was described as substantial and one of the largest amounts found in recent history.
Taylor agreed to plead guilty to a level 6 felony charge, which is the lowest level of felony under state law.
Under recently changed state laws, offenders convicted of the lowest level felony typically cannot be sent to state prisons, Cooper said.
Home detention was the next option, he said.
As part of his sentencing, Taylor can ask for his sentence to be modified after a year, which could include removing him from home detention, according to court records.
