POT GROWER RECEIVES 10 YEARS

Admitting that he ignored the potential damage his business did to society
and individuals, Kenneth Midkiff apologized in federal court Thursday
before he received 10 years in prison for masterminding the largest indoor
marijuana farm ever encountered by police in Oregon.

Midkiff, 43, pleaded guilty in January to money laundering and conspiracy
to manufacture between 1,000 and 3,000 kilograms of marijuana. He also
forfeited more than $1 million he had deposited in a Swiss bank.

"I freely admit my guilt," he said. "I'm very sorry for the pain and damage
I've inflicted on the community and society. I'm probably most distressed
by the damage I've inflicted on my family."

Midkiff told U.S. District Judge Michael Hogan that his family has suffered
emotional and financial loss, and now will suffer his absence. Midkiff
pledged to be "a positive influence" when he returns to the community.

Gary Ross Williams, 47, Midkiff's partner in the operation, also was
sentenced Thursday to 10 years. He earlier pleaded guilty to the same
charges and forfeited $773,000 in assets gained from the operation.

Hogan ruled that Williams played a major role in the criminal conspiracy
and deserved the same sentence as Midkiff, even though Williams tried to
downplay his role.

"I was never in a supervisory role," he told the judge. "I was placed in a
lead position. People looked to me for guidance. I never asked to be in
that role. I'm sorry I was ever involved in it."

A third defendant, Rocky Lee Reno, 45, was sentenced to 2 1/2 years in
prison after Hogan ruled he was merely an employee at the growing
operation. Reno probably will be accepted into an intensive federal boot
camp in California, where he may be released after six months if he
completes the program.

None of the three men had a prior criminal record.

More indictments are expected as the investigation continues, said
Assistant U.S. Attorney Kirk Engdall. Court records indicate Midkiff and
Williams could have received life in prison, but got less time for
cooperating with the investigation.

Court records detailing their cooperation are sealed by court order and
have not been disclosed.

Engdall said Midkiff and Williams may get a sentence reduction if they are
asked to cooperate further and if they provide "substantial assistance." He
said most of the marijuana grown in the conspiracy, which began at least
six years ago, was distributed along the West Coast.

The investigation began last March 5 when police - acting on a tip from a
neighbor who saw tons of potting soil disposed of in a trench - raided
Midkiff's 165-acre property near Cheshire.

Inside a decades-old 300-by-80-foot Quonset hut, they found a growing
operation larger than a football field with hundreds of 1,000-watt grow
lights that moved on overhead tracks.

An overhead watering system nurtured an estimated 7,000 marijuana plants
that drug agents described as "small plants with a lot of buds." The entire
operation was powered by a huge diesel generator installed in a specially
constructed room that deadened its noise.

About 300 pounds of processed marijuana was found stored in the hut and in
a barn on the property.

One more defendant, Curtis Vance Gray, 50, remains to be sentenced in the
case. He is scheduled to appear in federal court Tuesday.

Copyright 1998 The Register-Guard

Checked-by: (Joel W. Johnson)