Wilson man jailed after deputies say he drew a handgun at Courtney marijuana grow

A Wilson, Oklahoma, man was booked into the Love County Jail early Monday after deputies answering a burglary call at a marijuana grow in Courtney said he drew a handgun from his waistband. Jail records list Conro Dillon Vernon on felony allegations that include entering with intent to steal copper. Love County shares its southern boundary with Cooke County.

The Love County Sheriff's Office said the call came in around 4:40 a.m. for a suspected burglar at the grow facility. In the office's public account of the response, officers gave Vernon commands before he allegedly pulled the handgun.

County booking records show him jailed at 7:57 a.m. on Aug. 31 with a Wilson address. The listed allegations also include breaking and entering with intent to commit a crime, carrying or possessing a firearm as a convicted felon, using a firearm while committing a felony, and receiving, possessing or concealing stolen property. Booking entries reflect accusations at arrest, not convictions.

Under Oklahoma's copper statute, stepping onto property meaning to take copper wire, cable or tubing is a felony by itself. The state's court-approved jury instruction says the offense holds even when the larceny is never finished, and the statute allows a fine on top of whatever prison term other state law provides.

Lawmakers south of the Red River put figures to the same problem last year. The analysis of Texas House Bill 3552 said copper prices had climbed roughly fivefold since 2000 and that thefts rose more than 60 percent from 2022 to 2024, with one company reporting about 20 incidents a week. Its authors were mainly worried about telecommunications lines, because cut copper and fiber can take down emergency calls. The FBI has warned that the damage runs past the scrap value of the metal, and the U.S. Department of Energy's inspector general has reported electric utilities losing several million dollars a year to copper theft.

The Courtney site sits in an industry that has shrunk. Oklahoma stopped issuing new grower, processor and dispensary licenses in August 2022, and House Bill 2095 moved the end of that moratorium to Aug. 1, 2026, while letting current licensees renew. State officials counted more than 9,000 grows in December 2021 and fewer than 3,000 by August 2025. The attorney general said in 2023 that narcotics agents estimated close to half the state's grows were operating illegally, and he created an organized-crime task force that September. Texas runs nothing on that scale. The Department of Public Safety lists three active dispensing licenses under the Compassionate Use Program, with 12 more to be issued under House Bill 46.

The sheriff's office describes Love County as about 532 square miles along the state line, bordering Cooke and Montague counties. The records reviewed for this report did not include bond, injuries, a prosecutor's charging decision, or the license status of the Courtney facility.

_Editor's note: Everyone charged with a crime is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in a court of law._