Niles woman gets jail for having marijuana

NILES -- A city woman will still do jail time even though a felony drug charge was reduced to a misdemeanor.
Police say Lisa Collins, 39, of North Clover Street was growing marijuana plants -- some as high as 7 feet tall -- outside her home.
Collins appeared Friday in Niles Municipal Court. She was charged with cultivating marijuana and possession of drug paraphernalia. The felony cultivating charge was reduced to a first-degree misdemeanor drug possession charge. A judge found Collins guilty and fined her $250 and court costs. A jail sentence of 180 days was suspended.
On the paraphernalia charge, the judge found Collins guilty and fined her $100 and court costs and gave her a 90-day jail sentence, with nine days suspended.
Last month, police executed a search warrant at Collins' home and found more than a half-dozen marijuana plants growing among sunflowers. They also found drug paraphernalia in several structures on the property.
Collins, who was not home at the time of the raid, surrendered to police the next day.