NEW YORK, July 1 (UPI) -- A suburban New York woman dubbed "Pot Mom" for allegedly running a multimillion-dollar marijuana operation was freed on $500,000 bail Monday.
Andrea Sanderlin, 45, of Scarsdale was released after an assortment of acquaintances came forward to sign the hefty bond, the New York Daily News reported.
The newspaper said the group included a train engineer, a secretary for media corporation Thomson Reuters and two hair salon workers.
The Brooklyn borough magistrate who allowed the arrangement expressed concerns and decided Sanderlin also must get blood relatives to sign on as well.
"She has to have people [on the bond] who she cares about," Magistrate Steve Gold said.
"For all I know she can have millions of dollars or she can have a couple hundred dollars."
Sanderlin was renting a $10,000-a-month mansion in Scarsdale and driving a Mercedes Benz sport utility vehicle when she was arrested May 20, the Daily News said.
Sanderlin, the mother of two daughters ages 3 and 13, is accused of operating a hydroponic pot-growing operating out of a Queens borough warehouse where authorities said they found 2,800 marijuana plants worth $3 million.
She pleaded not guilty last month and had a tentative trial date set for July 15. If convicted, Sanderlin faces a minimum sentence of 10 years in prison and $10 million in fines.
