Three cannabis farmers were caught red-handed when police turned up after a tip off.
Officers responded to reports of suspicious activity at the house in Gateshead and found the property had been converted into a drugs factory.
Newcastle Crown Court heard Eduart Rexhaj, Endrit Hodo and Festm Karmi were among five men in the house at Eastwood Gardens, Felling.
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The court heard the farm consisted of 104 plants and had an estimated yield worth up to £56,000.
The trio pleaded guilty to being concerned in the production of cannabis on a limited basis accepted by prosecutors - Karmi saying he was there to tend to just ten plants and the other two saying they were there to crop the plants.
The three men, all from Albania, were sentenced to six months each but have served the sentence already on remand. However the Home Office will decide whether they should be released, based on their immigration status.
Recorder Carl Gumsley told them: "The growing cultivation of cannabis is a serious matter and I'm satisfied in each of your cases only custody can be justified.
"You will serve half of that period in custody and in reality, because of the time you have already served in custody, you will have served already the period required by the criminal sentence.
"If and when you are released, you must comply with any conditions imposed on you by probation.
"Whether you are released will depend on your immigration status and the view the Home Office take about you, which is not a matter for me."
The court heard the farm comprised of 29 plants which had been cut in preparation for harvest and dozens of seedlings at various stages of growth.
The estimated value was between £13,000 and £56,000, the court was told.
The electricity meter had also been bypassed.
Rexhaj, 37, of Second Street, Mansfield, Hodo, 31, of no fixed address and Kasmi, 41, of no fixed address, have no previous conviction in this country.
Their barristers made no representation when the judge indicated what level of sentence he was going to impose.
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