cannabisnews.com: Man Pleads Guilty to Running Marijuana Operation





Man Pleads Guilty to Running Marijuana Operation
Posted by FoM on January 21, 2000 at 17:02:36 PT
By The Associated Press
Source: Detroit Free Press
Bradley Kevin Shugart pleaded guilty Friday to growing more than 10,000 marijuana plants on his farm in what prosecutors labeled as one of northern Michigan's biggest-ever drug enterprises. Shugart, 48, will be sentenced within 90 days. He could get from 10 years to life in prison and be fined up to $4 million. 
He also agreed to pay $100,000 under the federal forfeiture law, which permits seizure of property used in connection with drug operations, U.S. Attorney Michael Dettmer said. His office agreed to the cash payment instead of taking Shugart's house and land on which the plants were grown, which would have punished innocent family members, Dettmer said at a news conference in Leland. "We made a conscious effort to look at what Bradley Shugart's interest was. He was the one who was charged," Assistant U.S. Attorney Brian Lennon said. Shugart entered his plea in U.S. District Court in Grand Rapids. He also forfeited more than $3,400 in cash, 17 firearms, four crossbows, and a collection of silver and gold coins and precious metal bars that investigators determined were proceeds from his drug operation. Some of the coins and bars were found in an outbuilding on Shugart's property. If a judge accepts the deal between Shugart and prosecutors, at least 80 percent of the proceeds from the forfeited property will be returned to local police agencies for anti-drug programs, Dettmer said. Shugart was arrested Sept. 16, 1999, after an investigation by the FBI and the Traverse Narcotics Team, a task force with representatives of police agencies in seven northwestern Michigan counties. Police said they began the investigation after getting tips from neighbors last summer. A raid uncovered 10,849 marijuana plants with a street value of nearly $11 million growing amid corn and sorghum on plots scattered across hundreds of acres. Some of the land has been in Shugart's family for more than a century, Lennon said. Dettmer declined to say whether police were looking for others who might have been involved, although the indictment said Shugart had conspired with others. The conspiracy charge was among three that were dismissed under the plea agreement, in which Dettmer promised to bring no additional forfeiture actions against Shugart. Leelanau County Prosecutor Clarence Gomery said he had agreed not to seek state charges against Shugart, who is free on bond until sentencing. LELAND, Mich. (AP) Published: Janauary 21, 2000Copyright © 2000 Detroit Free Press Inc.Related Articles:Federal Charges Mount in Marijuana Farm Case - 1/11/2000http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/thread4260.shtmlFarmer Accused of Running Marijuana Operation - 10/02/99http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/thread3110.shtml
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