Arrests made in connection to hundreds of hemp plants stolen from Horry County farm
Horry County police have charged four people in connection to the theft of more than 150 hemp plants from a Conway area farm.
Police charged Gregory Joseph Ashe, 20, with grand larceny, and he was booked into J. Reuben Long Detention Center on Tuesday. Don Erick Stanley, 20, was charged with trespassing and booked into jail on Tuesday.
Two juveniles have also been arrested in connection to the theft, according to department spokeswoman Mikayla Moskov.
In mid-October, Horry County police went to a Conway-area farm off S.C. Highway 65 for the reported theft.
The owner said 165 hemp plants were stolen from the farm over the past few weeks, according to a police report. The plants were valued at more than $10,000. The owners told police that the suspects trespassed on their farm and took plants from the field. They also found cutters and a cellphone the suspects left behind and turned those items over to the police.
Hemp and marijuana come from the same plant species, but hemp has far less concentration of the chemical that causes someone to get high. Hemp can be used as a material for rope, clothes and food, according to the Department of Agriculture.
This story was originally published October 24, 2019 at 12:45 PM.
