A Madison man will serve five years on probation for his part in one of the largest drug cases ever investigated in Columbia County.

Judge Daniel George sentenced Sean K. Barry, 49, at a hearing Wednesday to a five-year probation sentence after Barry pleaded no contest to a charge of felony manufacture/delivery of THC (marijuana) as party to a crime.

"He sees life completely differently now," attorney Marcus J. Berghahn of Madison said of his client at the hearing.

Barry's arrest in October prompted him to change his life, Berghahn said, and he has undergone treatment for drug addiction. He also lost the job he held for 20 years and only recently received another job offer.

Speaking at the hearing, Barry told George that he takes responsibility for his actions, which he admits weigh heavily on him.

"There is no longer room in my life for my past addiction," Barry said.

He is the first of four defendants in the case to be convicted.

Christian Hopka, 62, of Deerfield, was charged in October after deputies discovered a marijuana-growing operation on Hall Road in the town of Hampden in southern Columbia County. In September, a landowner seeking a deer-hunting spot on his land notified authorities of the plants, according to a criminal complaint.

Authorities arrested Barry; James M. Laing, 49, of Waterloo; and Peter D. Fortlage, 42, of Madison; as they carried two garbage bags containing the harvested plants out from the property, the complaint stated.

Fortlage and Laing each stood mute in December to two felony drug charges each that carry a maximum initial penalty of 15 years in prison, and await jury trials. The trials have not been scheduled.

Hopka stood mute in May to a felony charge of manufacturing THC; a jury trial has not been scheduled.

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