A family man held in the “highest regard” in the community was jailed for 18 months yesterday for operating a secret cannabis farm in his basement.John Aguiar, 45, pleaded guilty at Magistrates' Court to possessing cannabis with intent to supply and cultivating cannabis at his Smith's home.Police entered the Harrington Hundreds Road property with a search warrant on December 31 last year after a tip-off and seized 87.9 grams of cannabis with a street value of $4,375, plus $455 cash.Aguiar immediately admitted having a controlled drug in the house when the officers arrived, telling them: “It's in the basement. It's marijuana.”He showed them five pots containing green plants and a refrigerator containing a clear plastic bag with 12 plastic twists containing plant material inside.Prosecutor Cindy Clarke told the court: “He agreed they were for sale. He said he was selling drugs out of his house.”She said Aguiar was not known to the courts and should expect to receive a prison term of between 18 months and three years. Mark Pettingill, mitigating, said his client was “simply not the type of individual that one would expect to appear before this court” and was sorry for the stress and embarrassment he'd caused his family.The defence lawyer said: “Just to put it in perspective, this was a secretive home operation. He was keeping it secret even from those that were close to him. He has admitted to being a regular user of cannabis and it appears that got him into the situation where, as many cannabis users do, [he] began to grow his own plants.”Mr Pettingill said Aguiar began selling the drug to other users but stressed it was not a “mass production on a massive scale” and likened it to “booze kennels” selling illicit alcohol in other jurisdictions.He added: “Everyone that knows this man holds Mr Aguiar in the highest regard. All of this is related to the fact that he's genuine, that he is hard working, that he is a good citizen.“He's the type of person that people trust, that they have high regard for. I know that after any period of incarceration this man has the ability to come out, to be accepted back into his community family and friends and work environment for taking responsibility for his wrongdoing.”Aguiar told Magistrate Khamisi Tokunbo: “I understand that what I did was against the law and that there are consequences to be faced in this matter. I want to assure the court that I'll never be standing in front of you ever again for this type of offence or any offence.“Generally, I'm a very decent guy. I didn't realise how much I was putting at stake.”His voice breaking with emotion, he added that he acted “for selfish reasons” and apologised to his brother, for whom he works, his wife and his children. Sentencing him to 18 months in jail for each count, to run concurrently, Mr Tokunbo said: “This is not an easy task and it's not a pleasant one.”He added: “Decent people do bad things. Decent people make mistakes.”Mr Tokunbo said he took into account Aguiar's good character, early guilty pleas and remorse but also had to take account of the serious nature of the offences. “I take it that you won't come back before the courts and your remorse is such that you won't find yourself in this predicament again,” he said.Mr Tokunbo ordered the forfeiture of the $455 seized by police.