Nevada City Man Pleads Guilty To Federal Pot Charges
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.
(Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
