A Deerfield man allegedly involved in one of the largest drug-growing operations in Columbia County will serve three months in jail.

Judge James O. Miller ordered Christian Hopka, 62, to serve 90 days in jail as part of a four-month probation sentence after Hopka pleaded no contest Tuesday to a charge of felony manufacture of THC (marijuana).

Hopka was charged in October 2008 when deputies discovered a marijuana-growing operation on Hall Road in the town of Hampden in southern Columbia County. A landowner seeking a deer-hunting spot on his land notified authorities of the plants, according to a criminal complaint.

Authorities arrested Sean K. Barry of Madison; James M. Laing of Waterloo; and Peter D. Fortlage of Madison as they carried two garbage bags containing the harvested plants from the property, the complaint stated.

Deputies recovered 75 marijuana plants in various stages of maturity, amounting to about 15 pounds of marijuana, with a street value of $1,200 to $1,500 per pound - a total of $18,000 to $22,500.Laing reportedly told authorities that Hopka has been growing starter marijuana plants at his home for the past 10 years, and that both of them planned the operation, the complaint stated. After the plants were started, Laing, Fortlage and Barry transplanted the plants on the Hall Road property, then tended and harvested them, according to the complaint.

After the plants were harvested, they were taken to Hopka's home, where they were dried and processed, the complaint stated. Barry and Hopka each sold some of the marijuana, according to the complaint.

Hopka was sentenced in August in Dane County to 60 days in jail as part of four years of probation after he pleaded no contest to a similar felony charge.

Barry, 49, received a five-year probation sentence in July after he pleaded no contest to a charge of felony manufacture/delivery of THC (marijuana) as party to a crime.

Fortlage, 42, and Laing, 49, each stood mute in December to two felony drug charges each that carry a maximum initial penalty of 15 years in prison; each is scheduled for a jury trial Dec. 10.

sgreen@

capitalnewspapers.com

745-3504