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The younger half of the father-and-son duo convicted of kidnapping a biathlete in the 1980s to be his mountain bride is facing possible prison time again after making a plea deal with prosecutors over federal drug charges.
Dan Nichols made the deal Tuesday over his employment with a medical marijuana provider raided in a statewide crackdown of large pot operations last year. He had been scheduled to go to trial on Sept. 24.
The plea deal reduces the nine drug, conspiracy and weapons charges Nichols originally faced to a single charge of conspiracy to maintain a drug-involved premises.
He plans to plead guilty in an Oct. 4 court hearing, said his attorney, Chad Wright.
"Conviction is likely in these cases. I don't know of any of these medical marijuana folks who are going to trial," Wright said Thursday.
Nichols faces up to 20 years in prison, though prosecutors will recommend a lighter sentence under the deal.
Federal prosecutors said Nichols assisted in the operations of Montana Cannabis' Helena greenhouse, where agents confiscated 950 plants in a March 2011 raid and found a handgun in the nearby camper where Nichols was staying.
The raids were among 26 search warrants executed against homes, businesses and warehouses of medical marijuana providers across Montana. The raids have resulted in more than two dozen indictments, with most pleading guilty despite protesting that they were following state medical marijuana laws.
Among them three of the four owners of the now-defunct Montana Cannabis, which served more than 300 medical marijuana users from locations in Helena, Missoula, Billings and Miles City.
Nichols was released from prison in 1991 following the 1984 kidnapping of Kari Swenson in southwestern Montana, a world-class biathlete whom Nichols and his father, Don, kept chained to a tree.
Swenson survived after being shot by Dan Nichols during an attempted rescue. Her would-be rescuer was shot and killed by Don Nichols, who is serving an 85-year prison sentence. The kidnapping and shootings led the father-and-son duo to be dubbed the "mountain men."
Nichols was not immediately arrested after the March 2011 medical marijuana raids. Later that summer, he fled from Jefferson County sheriff's deputies who busted an apparent drug deal Nichols was making at an outdoor concert, prosecutors said.
Nichols remained on the run until May, when U.S. marshals aided by the Butte-Silver Bow sheriff's office arrested Nichols in a Butte parking lot after tracking his movements in southwestern Montana.
Nichols had been scheduled to go on trial with the fourth Montana Cannabis co-owner, Chris Williams.
Williams' attorney filed documents saying he received a new plea agreement offer from prosecutors that he plans to review with his client, but Williams said he still plans to go to trial.
"I am not taking a guilty plea," Williams said Thursday.
Meanwhile, a Belgrade man whose medical marijuana business was also raided in March 2011 has pleaded guilty to conspiracy to maintain a drug-involved premises. Lucas Mulvaugh will be sentenced on Jan. 3, prosecutors said Thursday.
Mulvaugh was a business partner of Randy and Stephanie Leibenguth, who owned Montana Cannabis Ministry, until a dispute ended that relationship a month before the raids, prosecutors said.
Agents seized 539 marijuana plants from the Leibenguths and 892 plants from Mulvaugh at his Outlaw Hill Health Institute.
The Leibenguths have already pleaded guilty to federal drug charges and are awaiting sentencing.
News Hawk- TruthSeekr420 420 MAGAZINE
Source: therepublic.com
Author: Matt Volz
Contact: The Republic - Contact information
Website: 'Mountain man' makes plea deal with prosecutors in medical marijuana conspiracy charge
Dan Nichols made the deal Tuesday over his employment with a medical marijuana provider raided in a statewide crackdown of large pot operations last year. He had been scheduled to go to trial on Sept. 24.
The plea deal reduces the nine drug, conspiracy and weapons charges Nichols originally faced to a single charge of conspiracy to maintain a drug-involved premises.
He plans to plead guilty in an Oct. 4 court hearing, said his attorney, Chad Wright.
"Conviction is likely in these cases. I don't know of any of these medical marijuana folks who are going to trial," Wright said Thursday.
Nichols faces up to 20 years in prison, though prosecutors will recommend a lighter sentence under the deal.
Federal prosecutors said Nichols assisted in the operations of Montana Cannabis' Helena greenhouse, where agents confiscated 950 plants in a March 2011 raid and found a handgun in the nearby camper where Nichols was staying.
The raids were among 26 search warrants executed against homes, businesses and warehouses of medical marijuana providers across Montana. The raids have resulted in more than two dozen indictments, with most pleading guilty despite protesting that they were following state medical marijuana laws.
Among them three of the four owners of the now-defunct Montana Cannabis, which served more than 300 medical marijuana users from locations in Helena, Missoula, Billings and Miles City.
Nichols was released from prison in 1991 following the 1984 kidnapping of Kari Swenson in southwestern Montana, a world-class biathlete whom Nichols and his father, Don, kept chained to a tree.
Swenson survived after being shot by Dan Nichols during an attempted rescue. Her would-be rescuer was shot and killed by Don Nichols, who is serving an 85-year prison sentence. The kidnapping and shootings led the father-and-son duo to be dubbed the "mountain men."
Nichols was not immediately arrested after the March 2011 medical marijuana raids. Later that summer, he fled from Jefferson County sheriff's deputies who busted an apparent drug deal Nichols was making at an outdoor concert, prosecutors said.
Nichols remained on the run until May, when U.S. marshals aided by the Butte-Silver Bow sheriff's office arrested Nichols in a Butte parking lot after tracking his movements in southwestern Montana.
Nichols had been scheduled to go on trial with the fourth Montana Cannabis co-owner, Chris Williams.
Williams' attorney filed documents saying he received a new plea agreement offer from prosecutors that he plans to review with his client, but Williams said he still plans to go to trial.
"I am not taking a guilty plea," Williams said Thursday.
Meanwhile, a Belgrade man whose medical marijuana business was also raided in March 2011 has pleaded guilty to conspiracy to maintain a drug-involved premises. Lucas Mulvaugh will be sentenced on Jan. 3, prosecutors said Thursday.
Mulvaugh was a business partner of Randy and Stephanie Leibenguth, who owned Montana Cannabis Ministry, until a dispute ended that relationship a month before the raids, prosecutors said.
Agents seized 539 marijuana plants from the Leibenguths and 892 plants from Mulvaugh at his Outlaw Hill Health Institute.
The Leibenguths have already pleaded guilty to federal drug charges and are awaiting sentencing.
News Hawk- TruthSeekr420 420 MAGAZINE
Source: therepublic.com
Author: Matt Volz
Contact: The Republic - Contact information
Website: 'Mountain man' makes plea deal with prosecutors in medical marijuana conspiracy charge
