(David Goldman, Associated Press file)

Castle Rock man pleads guilty to mailing Colorado pot across country

A Castle Rock man pleaded guilty on charges that included sending more than 100 packages that included marijuana to locations across the country and receiving several hundred thousand dollars through the mail in return.

According to the United States District Attorney’s Office, Brian Daniel Evins, 42, began mailing pot packages in April 2014 and continued through that fall. Evins pleaded guilty this April.

Officials said Evins first came under suspicion on April 2, 2014 when a U.S. Postal Inspector came across a suspicious mailing that may have contained narcotics or narcotic proceeds. The first package in question came from Missouri, and contained cash. The package was sent to a Commercial Mail Receiving Agency mailbox and was addressed to an individual in Lone Tree.

An ongoing investigation traced a car under surveillance to Evins, who was also seen mailing parcels from post offices in the metro area.

Officials said inspectors also conducted a search of Evins’ apartment. That search recovered 580 grams of bagged marijuana, 800 grams of marijuana extract/hash oil, 5,480 grams of marijuana edibles, for a total weight of 6,860 grams of marijuana. A search of his vehicle found an additional 78 grams of liquid marijuana. He had previously mailed two additional packages that were seized by law enforcement. Those packages contained 3,654 grams of marijuana. In total, Inspectors learned that Evins sent 11,026 grams of marijuana.

Law enforcement also had seized during the investigation more than $53,000 in cash, which was the proceeds from his illegal narcotics transactions. That money was forfeited to the government as part of Evins’ plea agreement.

Evins pled guilty to three counts of possession of a controlled substance with the intent to distribute. He faces not more than 20 years in federal prison, and up to a $1 million fine per count.

This story was first published on DenverPost.com