MARIJUANA DISTRIBUTOR GETS 27 YEARS

A federal judge Friday imposed a 27-year prison term on a Mendocino County
man who was earlier convicted of heading up a marijuana cultivation ring.

Judge Susan Illston also fined John Dalton, 45, of Redwood Valley $165,000.

Dalton's sentencing capped a controversial 1996 case that involved one of
the largest marijuana distribution operations in North Coast history,
alleged witness tampering, and a judge's finding that a federal drug agent
had acted improperly by engaging in a relationship with Dalton's wife.

During pretrial hearings in 1999 involving Dalton's case, Illston found
that drug agent Mark Nelson had gone too far in persuading the defendant's
wife to install a tape recorder in their bed as part of a three-year
federal investigation of the marijuana cultivation ring. During the
hearings, Nelson admitted drinking beer and kissing Virginia Horstman,
Dalton's wife, during an encounter at a DEA safe house in Ukiah.

Illston refused to allow government prosecutors to use the tapes against
Dalton during his subsequent trial.

Despite the setback to the government's case, a federal jury convicted
Dalton of six marijuana-growing related charges and for obstructing justice.

On Friday, Illston sentenced Dalton to the 27-year prison term and ordered
a five-year period of supervised release when he is paroled.