Sheffield cannabis farmers sentenced to prison
and live on Freeview channel 276
Rezart Shaha and Anuel Zholi were present when officers forced entry at the address on Clarke Square, on May 15, said prosecutor Gurdial Singh.
He said the cellar, first floor bedrooms and the attic had been converted into a drug farm, the electricity meter had been bypassed and the remnants of previous grows were found.
Advertisement
Hide AdAdvertisement
Hide AdShaha had a Greek driving licence which he told police was fake and had used to open a bank account.
Sheffield Crown Court heard both Albanian nationals had entered the UK illegally.
Zholi told police he had been pressured into taking part in the grow to pay off debts, and had been given a £500 "float."
Daniel Chadwick, mitigating, said neither man claimed they were trafficked and both had keys to the property.
Advertisement
Hide AdAdvertisement
Hide AdHe said the pair were "family men of previous good character who were in desperate circumstances" rather than "hardened criminals."
He said it was a "standard grow house" and "different from a large commercial property for industrial use."
Shaha, 31, and Zholi, 36, currently of HMP Doncaster, both pleaded guilty to cannabis production when they appeared at Sheffield Crown Court, on Wednesday.
Judge Graham Reeds QC handed each man six months in prison for the drug offences, and added six months to Shaha's sentence for possession of the fake document.