'Hollywood Madame' Heidi Fleiss caught with 400 pot plants

Formerly known as the "Hollywood Madame," Heidi Fleiss was recently found to have nearly 400 marijuana plants growing on her Pahrump, Nevada property, and her love of exotic birds helped her avoid arrest.

Fleiss, who appeared in the 2011 Animal Planet reality show, "Heidi Fleiss: Prostitutes to Parrots," was not arrested because she had exotic birds valued at more than $200,000, according to the Nye County Sheriff's Office.

"We don't have facilities for exotic birds, and they are pretty rare and very expensive," Sheriff Anthony De Meo said.

Last week, a deputy went to the home in search of another woman wanted on an arrest warrant. When no one responded to the front door, the officer found it open and entered, where he saw the marijuana.

Fleiss appeared, and allegedly gave authorities consent to search a different area of the home. Authorities counted a total of 392 pot plants.

Fleiss told officers she intended to sell the marijuana to a Las Vegas cooperative, but she could not produce any paperwork to support her claim.

"Later she admitted, in a roundabout way, that she was going to get a license because she did not have one," detectives wrote in a statement.

In addition to the exotic birds, authorities say the fact that Fleiss was cooperative and consented to a search without a warrant contributed to her not being arrested. Detectives have sent their report to the district attorney to file charges.