Source: Register-Guard, The (OR) Contact: http://www.registerguard.com/standingdocs/feedback.html Website: http://www.registerguard.com/ Pubdate: Fri, 5 Jun 1998 Author: Bill Bishop - The Register-Guard 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)