2nd suspect pleads guilty in drug case

PORTLAND – A second defendant pleaded guilty Monday to drug charges after a judge ruled against a motion to suppress evidence gathered in an investigation into the men’s indoor marijuana-growing operation.

Kevin Woodward entered his guilty plea in federal court in Portland. A co-conspirator, Gregory Jackson, pleaded guilty on Friday.

The pleas came after U.S. District Judge Gene Carter ruled that law enforcers who used a thermal imaging device during an investigation into the marijuana-growing operation in Turner did not violate anyone’s rights.

The defendants had contended that investigators should have obtained a search warrant before using the thermal imaging device to detect lights used in the marijuana-growing operation in a rented house.

Drug agents seized nearly a pound of cocaine, 197 marijuana plants and 36 ounces of marijuana from the house last May.

The U.S. Supreme Court last month heard the case of an Oregon man who says his rights were violated by law enforcement officials who used a heat-sensing device to find that he was growing marijuana in his home.

A decision in his case is expected before the close of the court’s current term in June.