Accused Pot Farmer's Court Hearing Pushed Back

A Kings Park Man accused by Smithtown Public Safety officers of growing a pot farm in a Commack water basin has a new court date. 

Mark Kern, 44, will remain free on $5,000 cash bail after his defense attorney requested Wednesday's felony hearing before Suffolk County Judge Richard Horowitz be adjourned. 

Kern has yet to enter a plea to the charges he faces: one Class E felony count of  third-degree criminal possession of marijuana and two misdemeanor charges of criminal trespassing and resisting arrest. 

Smithtown Public Safety officers arrested  Kern at 10:22 p.m. on Sept. 11 for allegedly helping tend to a marijuana farm, with between 100-200 plants, off Vanderbilt Motor Parkway and Redleaf Lane in Commack. 

The town's Public Safety Department conducted a four-month investigation, involving video surveillance, called "Operation Green Thumb" after highway department workers found young marijuana plants growing inside a water recharge basin.

Public Safety Deputy Chief Kevin McPadden said officers in camoflauge staked out the area on Wednesday night after watching video footage showing individuals slipping through a hole in the fence to regularly water and fertilizer the marijuana plants.

Kern was arrested as result of the stakeout while a second individual escaped on foot.  The investigation is still ongoing  is still ongoing and there is the possibility additional arrests will be made, according to McPadden. 

His next court appearance is scheduled for Dec. 4. 

Smithtown Public Safety officers are still searching for a second suspect accused of helping Kern tend to a marijuana farm discovered in Commack.