Gentry Man Accused Of Shipping Pot Through The Mail
By: Garret Krier
Updated: May 26, 2012
A Gentry man is accused of mailing thousands of dollars in marijuana to himself. KNWA has more on why investigators say he did it and also reaction from the man's wife.
Investigators say Joseph Morretti went to Oregon, where medical marijuana is legal and shipped several pounds of it to a P.O. Box at the Gentry Post Office. "It would sell for quite a bit on the street," said Sgt. Travis Newell with the Benton County Sheriff's Office.
In all there were 13 -mason jars full of marijuana which came out to roughly 5 pounds.
"We intercepted several packages," said Newell.
The street value is 27-thousand dollars. All of it, police say, shipped through the mail by Joseph Morretti, from Oregon, which is a medical marijuana state, to his P.O. Box in Gentry.
"He used the postal service and he also used UPS," said Newell. Newell says a tipster called Gentry Police and alerted them to what was inside. Then investigators brought in a drug-sniffing dog.. who alerted to what was inside despite attempts to mask the marijuana.
"He had some air fresheners to disguise the odor of marijuana and he cleaned the mason jars so it cleaned the residue off the jar," said Newell. Police arrested Morretti and say he confessed to the crime. His wife Stacy says there is more to the story though.
"Right. Yes There is way more to this story than the public will ever know," said Stacy Morretti. Morretti declined to elaborate on what she calls the real story. "It is just a mistake that has been made by someone and now my husbands getting accused for it," said Morretti.
Sergeant Newell says this is not the first time investigators have found pot being shipped through the mail. "It is great to discover something like this and make sure this stuff does not hit the streeet," said Newell.
Morreti's wife says her husband wasn't the one putting the pot there. "He did not do anything wrong," said Morretti. Joseph Morretti is facing charges of possession with intent to deliver. He could also be looking at some federal charges as well.
Investigators say Joseph Morretti went to Oregon, where medical marijuana is legal and shipped several pounds of it to a P.O. Box at the Gentry Post Office. "It would sell for quite a bit on the street," said Sgt. Travis Newell with the Benton County Sheriff's Office.
In all there were 13 -mason jars full of marijuana which came out to roughly 5 pounds.
"We intercepted several packages," said Newell.
The street value is 27-thousand dollars. All of it, police say, shipped through the mail by Joseph Morretti, from Oregon, which is a medical marijuana state, to his P.O. Box in Gentry.
"He used the postal service and he also used UPS," said Newell. Newell says a tipster called Gentry Police and alerted them to what was inside. Then investigators brought in a drug-sniffing dog.. who alerted to what was inside despite attempts to mask the marijuana.
"He had some air fresheners to disguise the odor of marijuana and he cleaned the mason jars so it cleaned the residue off the jar," said Newell. Police arrested Morretti and say he confessed to the crime. His wife Stacy says there is more to the story though.
"Right. Yes There is way more to this story than the public will ever know," said Stacy Morretti. Morretti declined to elaborate on what she calls the real story. "It is just a mistake that has been made by someone and now my husbands getting accused for it," said Morretti.
Sergeant Newell says this is not the first time investigators have found pot being shipped through the mail. "It is great to discover something like this and make sure this stuff does not hit the streeet," said Newell.
Morreti's wife says her husband wasn't the one putting the pot there. "He did not do anything wrong," said Morretti. Joseph Morretti is facing charges of possession with intent to deliver. He could also be looking at some federal charges as well.
