Man indicted on charges involving pot

HAMMOND — A Chippewa Bay man has been indicted on a federal charge that he grew more than 100 marijuana plants.

Barry M. Burke,48, address not confirmed, faces counts that he knowingly and intentionally manufactured marijuana and that he possessed the drug with the intention to distribute it.

The counts were contained in a federal grand jury indictment unsealed Tuesday in U.S. District Court.

It is alleged that beginning no later than June and continuing until at least Aug. 28 he grew more than 100 marijuana plants and that on Aug. 28 he possessed marijuana with the intent to distribute it.

Mr. Burke has two prior convictions for felony drug offenses, according to court documents. He pleaded guilty March 25, 2004, in St. Lawrence County Court to second-degree criminal possession of marijuana. He admitted that he had 397 marijuana plants at his residence on New Road in the town of Hammond.

He also pleaded guilty the same day in Jefferson County Court to fifth-degree criminal sale of a controlled substance. The charges stemmed from the March 13, 2003, sale of cocaine in the town of LeRay.

He was sentenced in both cases in April 2004 to two to four years in the state prison system's Willard Drug Treatment Program. Inmates who successfully complete the program become eligible to serve the remainder of their sentence free under parole supervision.

He was released in October 2004 to parole supervision, according to the state Department of Correctional Services Web site.