Lisarow: Cannabis couple Leila Samatauskaite and Joshua Carl plead guilty to sophisticated ’grow room’

A cubbyhouse maker blamed Covid for why he converted his garage and backyard shed into sophisticated cannabis “grow rooms” while his Estonian bride turned a blind eye, a court hears.

A cubbyhouse and prefabricated shed builder told police Covid “destroyed” his business before he turned to cultivating cannabis at his sprawling acreage property while his new wife turned a blind eye.

Joshua Carl, 43, and his wife Leila Samatauskaite, 32, of Lisarow, appeared at Gosford Local Court on Friday where he pleaded guilty to enhanced indoor cultivation of cannabis, possessing a prohibited weapon and dealing with the proceeds of crime.

Samatauskaite, meanwhile, pleaded guilty to being an owner/occupier of a house and knowingly allowing it to be used as a drug premises.

It comes after police raided their double storey acreage property on The Ridgeway, at Lisarow, at 7.30am on June 17 last year.

An agreed set of facts during the search police located a purpose-built, locked room within a shed on the property containing 36 cannabis plants.

“Inside the room police found a hydroponic cannabis growing system,” the facts state.

“The floor space had cannabis plants being grown in individual pots. There were hanging heat lamps overhead, they were turned on at the time of entry and featured shades around the globes. Each pot was connected to a water filtration system. The room was insulated. The room featured electronic fans, large carbon filters that were installed to hang from the ceiling and ducting was installed that led out of the room.

“The room appeared to be purpose built for the cultivation of cannabis.”

The couple were married three months before police raided their Lisarow property. Picture: Facebook

Police also found a black “enhanced grow tent” attached to the front of the room which was also insulated and had ventilation/exhaust fans.

The tent also featured a “centurion mini-trimmer electropolished tumbler” which was designed to “separate cannabis bud from the stem”.

Inside the shed police also found vacuum seal bags, potting mix, fertiliser, electric fans, boxes for CCTV cameras and other items consistent with cultivating hydroponic cannabis.

The facts state the garage of the five bedroom home, which featured CCTV security cameras, large electric reinforced gates, a tennis court and pool, was also converted into three smaller “grow rooms”.

One of the rooms contained 198 cannabis cuttings planted in seedling trays but given they did not have leaves did not fit the definition of cannabis plants, according to the facts.

The walls of the grow rooms were lined with plasterboard and fitted with carbon filters and ducting.

A bit cheeky: Samatauskaite pleaded guilty to knowingly allowing the house to be used as a drug premises Picture: Facebook

Police also found two envelopes containing a total of $5400 cash and an extendable baton.

The facts state Mr Carl told police he had lived at the property for about five years and was married to Samatauskaite for three months, having been together for about three years.

“I had a business in Erina doing cubbies and prefabricated sheds and what not. Covid destroyed that. So we did end of lease cleaning,” he told police before declining to be interviewed further.

He was adjourned to face Gosford District Court on June 23 to set a date to be sentenced.

Samatauskaite was sentenced to a community corrections order for 12 months after a magistrate found her offence, of knowingly allowing a house to be used as a drug premises, fell into the “mid range” of objective seriousness.

The court heard Samatauskaite, originally of Estonia, had two previous convictions for possessing drugs and driving with an illicit drug present in her system.