Crime & Courts

Anchorage men sentenced for grow operation revealed after shooting

Two Anchorage men were sentenced Thursday to months in prison nearly three years after a man dumped at a southside gas station with a gunshot wound led police to a sophisticated marijuana grow operation at his residence.

Michael Hedgpeth, 39, was sentenced to 120 days' jail time for various fourth-degree drug charges related to his pot operation, including the possession of more than 25 plants. Anchorage Superior Court Judge Larry Card said Hedgpeth was more culpable for the operation than his co-defendant.

Mark Purcella, 45, received two concurrent sentences of 197 days; one of the sentences related to marijuana charges, and another stemmed from police finding 21.5 grams of cocaine during a search of the residence, according to court testimony.

However, Hedgpeth had a stay granted for his sentence pending appeal, and Purcella has already served his imposed time.

Both men appeared in court out of custody. Hedgpeth wore a black button-up and blue striped tie; his hair was styled and his skin tanned. Purcella wore a faded blue dress shirt, no tie. His long, graying beard was tied in a hair tie.

On Jan. 23, 2012, Hedgpeth dumped Purcella at the entryway of a combination McDonald's and Chevron gas station in South Anchorage. Purcella was bleeding from a gunshot wound to his lower back, police said at that time. Court testimony indicated Purcella was actually shot in the butt.

Responding officers arrived before Hedgpeth had a chance to leave and detained him. It turned out the men were roommates. Purcella did not want to be associated with their house, and police soon discovered why. They obtained a search warrant to investigate the crime scene and discovered what they called a commercial marijuana grow.

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Then-APD spokesperson Lt. Dave Parker described the grow in an Anchorage Daily News article as "dozens" of plants, complete with lights, watering systems, ventilation and reflective foil on the walls. Parker said the police amended their search warrant to investigate the marijuana operation.

Before being sent to a local hospital for treatment, Purcella told police that he had been letting his dog out the back door of his house on the 800 block of Center Street when an unknown person shot him.

Hedgpeth was interviewed by police and released, with his truck held as evidence. The state filed charges several days after the incident. The men took their cases to trial, and jurors found them guilty on multiple fourth-degree drug charges.

Assistant district attorney Javier Diaz said the pot operation was a "high-end marijuana grow." There were 16 plants in the attic, he said, standing 6 feet tall. The men had a schedule for lighting, filtration and watering systems, he said. Additionally, 10 starter plants were found.

Police seized 10 pounds of marijuana off the plants, according to the prosecutor. An expert witness testified that the seizure had a "conservative value" of $48,000 to $50,000, he said.

Diaz asked the court to consider the men's offenses as serious.

"Drugs are the root of all evil," he said. "They ultimately lead to more bad things."

Hedgpeth's defense attorney, John Murtagh, argued that while his client's marijuana grow was "well done," 16 plants is a fairly small setup.

As for how large the plants were, Murtagh said, "The point of growing a marijuana plant is to grow a big marijuana plant."

Jerzy Shedlock

Jerzy Shedlock is a former reporter for Alaska Dispatch News. He left the ADN in 2017.

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