LAKE COUNTY, Fla. – A Lake County man has been arrested after over $100,000 in utilities was stolen and put toward his cannabis greenhouse, according to the sheriff’s office.
In an affidavit, detectives said SECO Energy had learned about the theft stemming from an address along Springfield Road in Sorrento.
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When a detective arrived at the property in February, he discovered that the security seal for the meter can was cut, and secondary lines connecting the transformer to the house had been tapped inside the meter can, deputies added. The altered meter box caused the property to receive “a large amount of undocumented power.”
Those taps were used to power “cannabis grow operations” in the home garage, a shed on the property and a greenhouse, the affidavit shows.
In total, deputies said the theft — at a rate of 551.33 kWh per day over the course of 2,749 days — amounted to $207,359.01. Court records show that Rafael Tomayo, 36, was listed as the property resident during that time.
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In June, detectives and a SWAT team executed a search warrant at the property, finding Tomayo, another person named Nycenia Moya, and five young children, the affidavit says.
It was discovered that Moya held a license to grow the cannabis plants, and in an interview with Tomayo, he told detectives that he had been leasing the property for nearly 10 years, investigators said.
According to the affidavit, Tomayo further explained that the cannabis greenhouse had been built in January by “Ramone Greenhouses,” and Tomayo paid to have all the construction and electrical work completed. As a result, Tomayo claimed he wasn’t aware about the theft of utilities.
However, deputies said they searched online for “Ramone Greenhouses” and were unable to find it.
On Thursday, deputies arrested Tomayo at his home.
“The arrestee was more than cooperative during this process,” the affidavit reads. “A phone call was placed to him at his home, and he immediately gave himself up and came outside to meet deputies.”
Tomayo faces a charge of theft of utilities over $100,000. He is held on bond of $1 million.
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