A Niagara senior who challenged the validity of a search warrant, claiming the odour coming from his property was due to skunks and not a $1.25-million marijuana grow-op, has been sentenced to 90 days behind bars.

The judge dismissed that argument, saying he was satisfied the police officer — he had previously investigated more than 100 grow-ops — would have been able to tell the difference between the two scents.

Sixty-five-year-old Armand Delorme, convicted at trial of production of a controlled substance and possession of a controlled substance, appeared in Ontario Court of Justice in St. Catharines for sentencing Monday.

The former financial planner who had no previous criminal record said he decided to try his hand at growing marijuana after he discovered marijuana edibles eased the chronic pain both he and his sister suffer from. He expected the crop would yield a five-year supply of marijuana, which he planned to turn into oil.

Although the marijuana was to be used to address chronic pain issues and "compassion for his sister," the judge warned the defendant that no one is above the law.

"The ends — marijuana oils and edibles — do not justify the means," Judge Tory Colvin said Monday, adding a lawless society would lead to "anarchy."

He also banned the defendant from producing marijuana "except in accordance with the laws of Canada and Ontario."

Niagara Regional Police executed a search warrant at a Marsdale Drive home in St. Catharines on Nov. 16, 2016.

Investigators had received information from two confidential informants that the residence housed a grow-op. Police requested a search warrant after an officer walked past the home and noticed the odour of marijuana.

The warrant was granted and officers seized more than 1,200 marijuana plants in various stages of growth from the property. They also discovered 3½ pounds of pot that was dried and processed.