By Daily Mail Staff | Published in The Daily Mail
Mayor Mary Lee Cook Dismisses Police Force Amid Corruption Allegations. Cook initially came into the spotlight when marijuana plants were discovered in her backyard.
An 84-year-old mayor who was found by a police chief with marijuana plants in her garden has fired the entire department.
City commissioners voted 3-2 Monday night in favour of closing the department.
The controversy came to the forefront earlier this month when Mayor Mary Lee Cook told officials she believed someone from the police force planted marijuana on her property.
The Volusia County Sheriff’s Office began handling emergency calls from Oak Hill Monday night.
The mayor called the special meeting, and presented a number of complaints against Police Chief Diane Young.
During the discussion, commissioners decided it would be best to ‘terminate the entire department.’
Mayor Mary Lee Cook of Oak Hill, Florida, said that the marijuana plants narcotics agents found growing near a fence in her yard were placed there by someone looking to damage her reputation.
Two weeks ago, narcotics agents from the sheriff’s department asked to search the mayor’s home, having been informed that she was growing marijuana.
The 84-year-old mayor says that the agents found and seized a few ‘scrawny’ marijuana plants in individual containers.
The sheriff’s office report notes that 10 marijuana plants in total were discovered.
A spokesman from the sheriff’s department says that Mayor Cook has not been charged and that investigators do not believe she was aware of the drugs on her property.
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