Pilfered power 'heated marijuana plants'
A woman alerted power company staff after she received an unusually high bill - only to discover her electricity was allegedly powering heat lamps for her neighbours’ homegrown marijuana, police said today.
John Stempka, 24, and Jennifer Gilligan, 20, were in the Erie County Prison in Pennsylvania today charged with pilfering power from neighbour Michsella Babcock to run all their appliances, including heat lamps for their pot plants.
Babcock alerted Penelec, her power company, when she got a 518 dollar (€519) bill, and then discovered a wire running from her circuit breaker box to the apartment of Stempka and Gilligan, police said.
Police said the couple had no electric service and were using Babcock’s electricity for all their appliances. The marijuana plants were discovered on Thursday.
Police believe the couple tapped into Babcock’s electrical box before she moved into her apartment on September 18.
Babcock isn’t on the hook for her high bill, said Scott Surgeoner, a spokesman for FirstEnergy, Penelec’s parent company.
Charges against Stempka and Gilligan included conspiracy to commit theft and possession with intent to deliver marijuana.
