Pubdate: Fri, 20 Dec 2013
Source: News & Observer (Raleigh, NC)
Copyright: 2013 The News and Observer Publishing Company
Contact: http://www.newsobserver.com/about/newsroom/editor/
Website: http://www.newsobserver.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/304
Author: Tammy Grubb

ORANGE COUNTY'S CHIEF PROBATION OFFICER CHARGED IN POT-GROWING OPERATION

CHAPEL HILL - A top Orange County probation officer has been charged 
with operating a marijuana-growing operation in her Efland home.

Carlisha Lakwan Davis, 38, of 3306 Loganberry Court, Efland, was 
charged Dec. 9 with felony maintaining a dwelling for the sale, 
manufacture or delivery of a controlled substance, felony marijuana 
manufacturing and misdemeanor possession of marijuana, according to 
court records.

The charges stem from a June break-in, Orange County sheriff's 
investigator Randy Hawkins said. Davis' arrest was delayed because 
investigators "were making sure we had what we needed" to file the 
charges, he said.

Davis was released from the Orange County Jail after posting a 
$10,000 unsecured bond. She returns to court Jan. 24. Orange-Chatham 
District Attorney Jim Woodall said the N.C. Department of Justice is 
handling the case.

Davis is southern Orange County's chief probation and parole officer, 
earning $45,914 a year. N.C. Department of Public Safety spokeswoman 
Pamela Walker said Davis has been on administrative reassignment 
since June with a Guilford County probation office.

According to a search warrant, deputies with the Orange County 
Sheriff's Office responded to a break-in call around 9 p.m. June 18 
at the home. Deputies reported finding "an obvious break-in" and 
checked inside for any potential suspects, the warrant states.

In the master bedroom closet, they found what appeared to be the 
remains of a marijuana-growing operation, Hawkins said in the 
warrant. Among the items seized were plant-growing lights, 
fertilizers, marijuana, marijuana seeds and growing media, the warrant states.

Deputies told him the break-in suspect or suspects may have stolen 
marijuana plants growing in the house, but it was hard to tell 
because of the condition in which they found the closet, Hawkins said.

"It appeared that the suspects got all that they could carry and had 
to leave some items behind," he said.

Deputies found more lights and equipment in the garage, the warrant 
states. Court records show Davis was charged with having between 0.5 
and 1.5 oz. of marijuana in the home.

Hawkins said deputies did not know at the time of the break-in that 
the home belonged to Jones and her husband, Feltus Juan Jones, 40, 
who also could face charges.

Orange County's 12 probation and parole officers supervise the daily 
activities of 667 offenders  roughly 56 per officer  and ensure they 
comply with court orders.

Davis joined the Department of Public Safety in 1998. She worked in 
the Carrboro office on Laurel Avenue for many years, including as an 
educational officer and the unit's domestic violence officer, and was 
promoted to chief probation and parole officer in 2008. Davis 
supervised six probation officers and one office assistant, Walker said.

State budget cuts forced the county to close the Carrboro office in 
recent years, consolidating the officers in Hillsborough.

If Davis is found guilty, Walker said the Public Safety agency "will 
take whatever action is appropriate at that time."
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