NORTHAMPTON — After six months disputing allegations that he had an illegal amount of marijuana in his Florence home with intent to distribute, Gary Goss had his case resolved in Northampton District Court on Friday.
Goss, 68, 50 Arlington St., was charged with cultivating marijuana and possession of the drug with intent to distribute, according to court records.
The charge of cultivating marijuana was continued without a finding for three months until June 17, 2016. Goss will remain on unsupervised probation until then, which means he does not have to report to the probation department during that time as long as he does not have any run-ins with the law.
The other charge was dropped because the Northwestern district attorney’s office determined there was no evidence to suggest that Goss had any intention to sell or distribute the marijuana found at his home, according to court records.
“I think it was a practical resolution,” said Goss’ lawyer, David Mintz, of Northampton. “I think the important thing was the case resolved in a way that removed any inference of distribution, because that wasn’t what was going on.”
Police visited Goss’ home Sept. 18 in response to a neighbor’s report that a stolen Ronald McDonald statue was spotted on his property.
The report involving the statue turned out to be unfounded, but while there, police came across what they described as a marijuana-growing operation.
When police and the Hampshire-Franklin Narcotics Task Force executed a search warrant three days later, investigators uncovered nine mature, budding plants, glass jars containing dried marijuana, 15 smaller marijuana plants, seven coat hangers used to dry the plants, one large plant and one medium plant, court records state. Authorities also seized $2,365 in cash.
At the time, Goss had a card that authorized him to use medicinal marijuana, according to court records. The card also allows him to have a 60-day supply of the drug, which is about 10 ounces, according to the Department of Public Health.
But the amount recovered exceeded those limits, Mintz said.
The cash police recovered will be given to the district attorney’s office — a much cheaper alternative than pursuing potentially costly litigation, Mintz said.
Goss won’t “be having any more involvement with the court system,” Mintz added. “I can guarantee that.”
Goss at one time ran the Soup Kitchen restaurant on Main Street, which opened in 1976. Goss and his wife, Minda, later opened Andiamo on Crafts Avenue.
When reached at his home Friday, Goss said he is looking forward to moving on.
“I’m glad it’s resolved,” Goss said. “It’s been long, and we’re happy it’s over to some degree.”
Michael Majchrowicz can be reached at mmajchrowicz@gazettenet.com.