Chad Robert Latham, 30, of Tacoma, Washington was sentenced on 18 January 2006 to 15 years in prison plus five years of supervised release for conspiracy to manufacture marijuana and manufacturing marijuana.[1] At sentencing, Judge Ronald B. Leighton noted Latham had two prior state convictions for growing marijuana.[1] An independent write-up confirmed the 15-year term for the hydroponic ferris-wheel setup.[2]
Under his plea agreement, Latham had designed eight aluminum machines that looked like ferris wheels, each holding 24 rows of eight plants for 192 plants per machine.[1][2] The plants rotated past grow lights, dipping into or sprayed with hydroponic solution.[1] In 2003-2004 the operation sat in a garage in rural McKenna, Pierce County, where co-conspirator Daniel Irwin lived on the property and hung a rotting deer carcass by the door to mask the smell.[1]
After someone discovered the grow in March 2004, Latham tried to move it overnight on 8 March to a warehouse on South Clement Street in Tacoma.[1] Neighbours heard suspicious activity in the alley and called Tacoma police, who arrested Latham and seized 2,083 marijuana plants.[1] The case was investigated by the DEA-TNET task force of federal agents and officers from Tacoma, Pierce County, the state patrol, corrections, Bonney Lake and Auburn.[1]
