SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — A Nevada City man has pleaded guilty to conspiring to cultivate marijuana and structuring financial transactions in order to evade reporting requirements.

The U.S. attorney’s office in Sacramento said 58-year-old Charles Miller Hilkey Jr. pleaded guilty on Tuesday.

Prosecutors say Hilkey led a significant pot growing operation that Hilkey claimed was for medical purposes.

Authorities said Hilkey amassed about 25 different properties in Oregon and California worth more than $2.4 million. The land is now being forfeited to the federal government because of the grow operations.

Hilkey is scheduled to be sentenced in U.S. District Court on June 12. He faces a maximum of 40 years in prison and a $2 million fine for the cultivating charge, and a maximum 10 years for the financial charge.

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