http://www.mcall.com/news/local/all-b5_1potpower.6108466oct26,0,914129.story
Another member of a multicounty drug ring in which authorities say Vietnamese immigrants grew thousands of marijuana plants in empty homes admitted Thursday in Carbon County Court that he stole nearly $12,000 worth of electricity to power his operation.
Bobby Dao, 35, of Scranton pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor theft of services charge. He was sentenced to a month in county prison plus two years' probation for stealing electrical power at a home he owned in Penn Forest Township.
But Dao is facing more legal troubles in federal court in Scranton.
In August, Dao reached a deal with federal prosecutors to plead guilty to a charge of manufacturing marijuana -- an offense that carries a maximum of five years in prison, a $250,000 fine and two years of probation.
An indictment in the federal case said Dao and 11 others conspired to grow marijuana plants in 10 houses in Carbon, Lackawanna, Luzerne and Monroe counties.
According to an affidavit state police filed in the power-theft case, federal Drug Enforcement Administration agents raided a house Dao owned at 154 Piney Woods Drive on Nov. 5, 2006. During a search of the home, they discovered Dao tapped PPL service lines in the attic. Police said he stole $11,689 in power in just four months and caused $566 in damage.
Dao earlier gave the court a check for restitution -- money he said a friend loaned him.
Dao, who speaks little English and needed a translator, said he got into the pot-growing scheme when ''Vietnamese friends'' convinced him he could make more money by participating in it.
''They said, 'Do the job, you'll make money,''' Dao told President Judge Roger N. Nanovic.
Dao, who works on fingernails in salons, said he saved $10,000 and used it to buy plants, lights and other material to grow marijuana.
''It is so tragic that he put himself in this position,'' said Dao's lawyer, Paul P. Ackourey.
Dao said he got arrested a few months after he started growing pot and never made any money.
Dao is the second member of the ring to be sentenced in Carbon Court for stealing power.
In August, Hoan Van Nguyen, 54, of Havertown, Delaware County, pleaded guilty to theft of services and criminal mischief and admitted stealing $42,784 worth of service over 11/2 years to power the pot-growing operation.
He also was sentenced to a month in county prison.
In June, Nguyen struck an agreement with federal prosecutors to plead guilty to a felony charge of manufacturing marijuana. He is facing 30 to 37 months in prison and is scheduled to be sentenced in December.
Another member of the ring, Tommy Nguyen, whose relationship to Hoan Nguyen is unclear, has pleaded guilty to manufacturing marijuana and money laundering. He was the owner of a Kingston, Luzerne County, nail salon.
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