Deputies: Man's marijuana plants as tall as Christmas trees

Narcotics officers said they were working another drug investigation when they drove by the home and saw the illegal plants thriving in a garden.

Sheriff Coy Reid showed us one of the plants that he says by itself weighed 23 pounds.

"It's bigger than a Christmas tree and heavier. I'm going to have to lay it down,” Reid said.

Channel 9 could clearly see the garden next to the home where deputies said they were stunned to see the marijuana growing out in the open.

The homeowner, Kelly Hines, didn't want to answer any questions minutes after being charged and learning the North Carolina Department of Revenue planned to tax him $66,000 after weighing the weed.

The garden next to the home did fool some of his neighbors who had no idea the plants that you could see from the roadway in the River Run neighborhood was marijuana.

"I thought they were tomato plants. If I looked from here, I thought tomato plants. That was it. But for the trained eye? You would be able to tell,” said neighbor John Fife.

Hines is charged with several felonies, including manufacturing marijuana and possession of a weapon of mass destruction after deputies said they found a sawed-off shotgun in the home.

They said they found close to 20 plants and more pot inside.

"His comments were he's never done anything wrong and this is his property and he should be able to do what he wants with it,” Reid said.

Deputies confiscated Hine's pickup truck loaded with his riding lawnmower to help pay some of the taxes for the seized marijuana.