An elderly Florida Keys man who called police to complain about his nosy neighbors wound up behind bars after a deputy found him in possession of a large amount of marijuana, authorities said Sunday.
Michael Csernik, 77, was arrested at his home at the Keys RV Park in Marathon Saturday on charges of possession of marijuana with intent to sell, possession of a felony amount of marijuana and possession of drug paraphernalia, according to the Monroe County Sheriff's Office.
The incident began when Csernik's neighbors called police and said they thought he was dealing drugs because there were a lot of vehicles coming and going at his home, authorities said. When a deputy went to investigate, no one answered at Csernik's door.
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About an hour later, the deputy went back to the home after Csernik himself called the sheriff's office, authorities said. Csernik told the deputy he was upset because his neighbors were taking pictures of cars coming and going from his home, and when Csernik was asked why he had so many visitors, he told the deputy he has a lot of friends, authorities said.
But when Csernik and his 51-year-old son consented to a search of their home, the deputy found 10 bags of marijuana and a scale for weighing the drugs, authorities said. The total weight of the marijuana was 110 grams.
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The deputy also found $1,363 in cash in Csernik's front pocket, which was seized as proceeds from suspected drug sales, authorities said.
Csernik said the drugs and paraphernalia belonged to him and his son had no knowledge of any of it, authorities said. He was booked into jail where he was being held without bond Monday, records showed. It was unknown whether he has an attorney.
