Lancaster Man Pleads Guilty in Pot Farms Case

Lancaster plumbing contractor Frank E. Gegax pleaded guilty in an Arizona federal court Thursday to a charge of masterminding an operation that grew thousands of marijuana plants in sophisticated underground plantations in the Antelope Valley and Arizona.

Gegax’s plea abruptly ended his trial, which began May 14 in U.S. District Court in Prescott, Ariz.

Under an agreement with the U.S attorney’s office, Gegax, 48, pleaded guilty to a single charge that he conspired to grow and sell more than 20,000 marijuana plants, and a lesser count of money laundering, carrying a maximum prison term of 12 years. In exchange, the prosecution will ask for dismissal of two charges of possession of marijuana with intent to sell it, punishable by a life sentence.

“You need solid facts to win a trial and we didn’t know if those were going to surface,� said Gegax’s attorney, Allen Kyman of Phoenix. Gegax decided the plea bargain was “the most prudent� course, Kyman said, because if found guilty, he “would have been sentenced to much more than 12 years in prison.�

The 14 members of the jury--two would have been named alternates later--told reporters they took a mock vote after being dismissed, and the result was 12-2 for conviction.

“The government really seemed to have a strong case against this guy with so much evidence and testimony linking him to everything--the money, houses, the growing,� said one juror.

Gegax, owner of KMG Construction in Lancaster, suffered head and foot injuries when his car crashed into a bridge abutment about 40 miles from Prescott last week as he drove to the trial. Sessions were postponed until Wednesday to give him time to recover. A Prescott neurologist told the court Thursday morning that Gegax was mentally competent to accept the plea agreement.

Gegax was charged after federal and local law enforcement officers--tipped off by an informer and $800 monthly electricity bills--raided an underground plantation east of Lancaster and two others in Mohave Valley, Ariz., built under innocent-appearing houses in the desert.

Officers seized about 20,000 marijuana plants worth $50 million in a sophisticated underground nursery that contained sunlamps and a sprinkler system that kept the marijuana watered.

The plantation bunkers were capable of producing $75 million to $150 million worth of plants a year, officials said.

Although 14 people originally were charged, Gegax was the sole defendant. The others--except for Roger Miller of New York City, who is still at large--pleaded guilty to conspiracy and marijuana possession charges under agreements with the prosecution that they would testify against Gegax.

Gegax was taken into custody by the U.S. Marshal’s Office.