Dee found guilty of burglary, grand larceny

The trial for Earnest Carl Dee Jr. took place Monday. Dee was charged with a burglary that occurred on Aug. 14, 2024, at Big River Cannabis Company.

Dee, who Big River Cannabis Company employed as a security guard, was accused of stealing 27 pounds of marijuana with a value of approximately $65,000 while employed at the company. Big River Cannabis Company legally sells and distributes marijuana under Mississippi’s medical marijuana law.

The jury was shown surveillance videos of a man alleged to be Dee entering the facility, going into a room closed off by curtains, and leaving the building with a barrel. The videos also showed the man loading the barrel into a blue Ford F-150 truck. The man went back into the facility and left with a second barrel, which he also loaded into the truck. The barrels were allegedly filled with cannabis that had been dried and was ready for distribution.

The next day, employees discovered the theft and notified owner Phen Schlett. The breaker to the surveillance cameras had been cut, but a battery backup continued to record. Fellow security guard Marcus Peterson said he recognized the man on video as Dee. Only three people had cards that would access the parking lot: Dee, Peterson and Schlett.

Peterson called Dee and asked him to return the marijuana. Dee refused. Schlett said they track everything from the seed to the finished product. Dee allegedly removed small amounts from several finished bags of product and did not have authorization to enter the facility.

Later that day, police pulled over a vehicle matching the description of the truck seen in the video. The man driving the vehicle said it was his truck, and he had let his stepson drive it to work the previous evening.

Dee took the stand in his own defense. He claimed that the person seen on the video was not him, as the man in the video had facial hair, which he did not have at the time. He admitted to working in the guard booth and stated the intruder must have slipped past him as he was looking at his phone. He also admitted to driving the blue Ford F-150 to work that night.

After debating for approximately one hour, the jury returned with the guilty verdict. Dee was found guilty of burglary, non-residential and guilty of grand larceny. He will be sentenced at a later date.