Pair indicted on charges of growing marijuana in their home

A Benton Township man and woman were charged Friday with growing more than 100 marijuana plants last month in their home.

A grand jury indicted Anthony Lanting, 28, and Brittney Austin, 24, on three counts of possession of criminal tools, two counts of cultivation of marijuana and one count of possession of marijuana, all felonies.

The jurors also indicted the pair on four misdemeanor counts of possession of marijuana paraphernalia. The charges were filed in Ottawa County Common Pleas court.

Lanting and Austin were arrested Friday and are being held in the Ottawa County Detention Facility.

The charges resulted after Perrysburg Township police stopped the pair in a car for a traffic violation May 4 in the township, according to a search warrant.

The officer smelled marijuana when he approached the car. He then searched the car and found marijuana, according to the search warrant executed on the pair's home in connection with case.

When the pair was separated, they gave conflicting stories about where they had been, the warrant shows.

In an effort to verify his story, Lanting told officers to look at his cell phone, according to the warrant. The phone had photos of him holding marijuana plants, photos of live and processed marijuana and pictures of an indoor marijuana growing operation, according to the warrant.

The next day, Ottawa County Drug Task Force agents raided the home where Lanting and Austin lived, 13000 block of Schiller Road, and seized 102 marijuana plants of various sizes and equipment used to grow them indoors.