MONROE - Green County District Attorney Gary Luhman motioned to dismiss without prejudice all drug-related charges pending in Green County Circuit Court against an Argyle man facing federal drug charges for manufacturing marijuana.
Judge Thomas J. Vale granted the motion. Schneider was scheduled for a preliminary hearing Friday.
Blake L. Schneider, 56, Argyle, was being charged in Green County with manufacture/deliver of marijuana, a class E felony; possession with intent to deliver marijuana, a class F felony; maintaining a drug trafficking place, a class I felony; and possession of drug paraphernalia, an unclassified misdemeanor. He faced more than 21 years in prison and more than $85,000 in fines.
Luhman said he was making the motion in light of a federal grand jury indictment last week in the Western District of Wisconsin, charging Schneider with manufacturing marijuana.
If convicted in federal court, Schneider faces a mandatory minimum penalty of five years and a maximum penalty of 40 years in federal prison. The federal grand jury indictment also seeks the forfeiture of the property allegedly used to facilitate the crime, located on Meadow Brook Road, Argyle.
The prosecution of the federal case has been assigned to Assistant U.S. Attorney Elizabeth Altman.
The charge against Schneider is the result of a Dec. 7 search warrant executed by the Green County Sheriff's Department Tactical Response Team and State Line Area Narcotics Team (SLANT).
A large indoor marijuana growing operation was discovered at a residence at W8507 Meadow Brook Road in Adams township about four miles east of Argyle.
Schneider, 56, owner of the residence, and Jean C. Anderson, 60, were arrested following a search of the residence. (See related story, Page A1.)
Agents reportedly seized 8,359 grams of processed marijuana and 206 marijuana plants growing in the house basement and in an exterior steel building.
Among other items seized by agents were grow lights, exhaust fans, scales, packing materials, six long guns, one handgun, one truck, two sport utility vehicles, one tractor, three motorcycles, one all-terrain vehicle and a generator.
Judge Thomas J. Vale granted the motion. Schneider was scheduled for a preliminary hearing Friday.
Blake L. Schneider, 56, Argyle, was being charged in Green County with manufacture/deliver of marijuana, a class E felony; possession with intent to deliver marijuana, a class F felony; maintaining a drug trafficking place, a class I felony; and possession of drug paraphernalia, an unclassified misdemeanor. He faced more than 21 years in prison and more than $85,000 in fines.
Luhman said he was making the motion in light of a federal grand jury indictment last week in the Western District of Wisconsin, charging Schneider with manufacturing marijuana.
If convicted in federal court, Schneider faces a mandatory minimum penalty of five years and a maximum penalty of 40 years in federal prison. The federal grand jury indictment also seeks the forfeiture of the property allegedly used to facilitate the crime, located on Meadow Brook Road, Argyle.
The prosecution of the federal case has been assigned to Assistant U.S. Attorney Elizabeth Altman.
The charge against Schneider is the result of a Dec. 7 search warrant executed by the Green County Sheriff's Department Tactical Response Team and State Line Area Narcotics Team (SLANT).
A large indoor marijuana growing operation was discovered at a residence at W8507 Meadow Brook Road in Adams township about four miles east of Argyle.
Schneider, 56, owner of the residence, and Jean C. Anderson, 60, were arrested following a search of the residence. (See related story, Page A1.)
Agents reportedly seized 8,359 grams of processed marijuana and 206 marijuana plants growing in the house basement and in an exterior steel building.
Among other items seized by agents were grow lights, exhaust fans, scales, packing materials, six long guns, one handgun, one truck, two sport utility vehicles, one tractor, three motorcycles, one all-terrain vehicle and a generator.