Bentleyville pot-growing operation busted
Part of the ventilation system used in the Bentleyville marijuana-growing operation
Seedlings under a grow light found by police in a house on Main Street in Bentleyville
Richard Ritenour
The house at 143 Main St. where Bentleyville police said they uncovered a large marijuana-growing operation
A Bentleyville man was arrested Thursday night after 71 marijuana plants were found growing in the basement of his Main Street home.
Richard Ritenour, 38, of 143 Main St., was placed in Washington County jail on $10,000 bond on charges including manufacturing drugs and possession of marijuana and paraphernalia.
Bentleyville police Chief Richard Young said a caseworker from Washington County Children and Youth Services went to the home Thursday to do a welfare check on three children living there. An occupant of the residence refused to allow the caseworker to enter. The CYS worker then called police for assistance, and they smelled the odor of marijuana coming from the home. Ritenour consented to a search.
“Ritenour initially consented to the search, but once we found the padlocked door to the basement, we had to get a search warrant around 8 p.m.,” Young explained.
“What we found was a three-room operation that handled four stages of the growth, from seed to budding plant. It really was a sophisticated operation with some expensive charcoal-filter ventilators. We confiscated that as well as growing lights, ventilation equipment, irrigation gear and a humidifier,” he said.
A loaded shotgun was also found in the living room of the home.
The children were released to the custody of Ritenour’s girlfriend, who police said was not involved in the marijuana-growing operation. Police left the Main Street home cordoned off Friday with crime scene tape.